Going into Election Night, not one Democrat thought Hillary Clinton could lose.
Then the results came in.
One of the untold secrets of election night is what Barack Obama had to pressure Hillary Clinton to do once it became apparent she was going to lose.
In the run up to the election, the media hounded Donald Trump on whether he would accept the election results.
They were laying a trap.
Their goal was to get him to admit he was going to lose and concede the race before the votes were finished being cast.
But Trump wisely didn’t take their bait.
In the final debate, he answered the question by simply saying he would keep everyone in suspense.
The so-called “mainstream” media was horrified.
Hillary Clinton gleefully echoed their attack that Trump refusing to admit he lost the election before the votes were counted was an immediate threat to democracy.
The story – however – quickly changed on Election Night.
Once it became clear Donald Trump was going to win enough Electoral College votes to become the 45th President, the Clinton campaign dug in.
This was not unfamiliar territory for Democrats.
Al Gore famously retracted his concession, and John Kerry refused to concede defeat the night of the 2004 election.
Democrats never willingly concede defeat in an election.
But Barack Obama called Hillary Clinton and pressured her to throw in the towel.
The Daily Caller reports:
“The presidential election of 2016 shocked the world, but no one was more shocked than Hillary Clinton. A new book on the Clinton campaign contains the revelation that Clinton had to be pressured into conceding her loss on election night by President Barack Obama.
“POTUS doesn’t think it’s wise to drag this out,” White House political director David Simas is reported as saying to Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager.
The campaign did not concede at that point.
Later, President Obama himself called and told Clinton, “You need to concede.” The president then repeated the demand to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta shortly thereafter.”
Clinton sent campaign chairman John Podesta to the Javits Center – where her coronation was set to be held – to address her sobbing supporters.
Podesta told them not to give up until all the votes were counted and to go home for the night.
Finally, Hillary called Trump after 2am in the morning and conceded – although she did not publically offer her concession until later that morning.
The Daily Caller also reports:
“While she didn’t publicly concede on election night — she waited until morning to address supporters — The Washington Post reports the calls from Obama had the desired impact. “At last, Clinton said, ‘Give me the phone.’ And then the first woman who was going to be president got her opponent on the line and said two words she never expected to say: ‘Congratulations, Donald.’”
The calls from President Obama started after Wisconsin was called for Donald Trump. The Post reports, “President Barack Obama thought it was over and did not want a messy recount.”
For all the media attacks hurled at Trump for refusing to concede the election, it was actually Hillary Clinton who undercut democracy.
She refused to publically speak on Election Night.
Her campaign backed recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Clinton supporters pressured Electoral College voters to switch their votes through an intimidation campaign that included death threats.
And loyalists in the intelligence community created conspiracy theories about Trump and Russia to try and delegitimize his Presidency.
The real threat to democracy was the Clintons.
