NYT author: Trump win a 'personal insult' igniting 'Obama's fury'

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

A new edition of New York Times (NYT) Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker’s book reveals former President Barack Obama’s outrage over his legacy coming to an end by then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defeating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

The latest version of Obama: The Call of History – originally released in July 2017 – contains updates based on new exhaustive reporting that includes shocking revelations about the 44th president regarding Election Day 2016.

Fateful end of a prideful presidency

Obama was more than reluctant to give up his helm to a detractor of everything he stood for – from abortion, to homosexuality, to immigration reform, to supporting Islam and Palestinian terrorism waged against Israel.

“Barack Obama admitted 'this stings' after the 2016 election result and spent the night watching the movie Dr. Strange to try and distract himself – a new book claims,” the Daily Mail reported . “The former president went from being confident that Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump to seeing it as a 'personal insult' that she lost.”

But as the results poured in, Obama’s over-confidence quickly evolved into rage.

“Obama arrogantly thought there was 'no way Americans would turn on him' – even though Clinton was far from perfect,” the Daily Mail’s Daniel Bates recalled from the book. “ As the dust settled, Obama told his family that 'this hurts' and blamed Clinton who 'brought many of her troubles on herself' and ran a 'scripted, soulless campaign.’”

Further evidence displaying Obama’s reportedly megalomaniacal personality was portrayed by his perception of himself as resembling a powerful criminal mastermind – whose memory would soon fade away with a conservative in office.

“He likened himself to Michael Corleone in the Godfather and said he was handing power over to somebody who would destroy his legacy,” Baker recounted. “As Obama saw it, he 'almost got out' of the White House unscathed – just like the mob boss nearly survived without being whacked.”

Obama’s utter contempt for the conservative, biblical principles Trump touted in his campaign were laid bare.

“Obama was cordial to the president elect in their face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office, but in private, Obama called Trump a conman straight out of Huckleberry Finn,” Bates explained. “Baker writes that Obama woke up on the morning of November 8, 2016, convinced he would 'not be handing the nuclear football over to Donald Trump – the reality television star, he thought, was a joke.'”

Even though he held (at the time) his likely Democrat successor in low esteem, Obama saw Clinton as the best vehicle to carry on his influence.

“His legacy – he felt – was in safe hands,” Baker wrote in his revised work. “She was a serious and seasoned professional who had served at the highest levels of government and provided mature leadership. Just as important, she would continue his policies and cement his biggest achievements.”

“Strange” took on a whole new meaning after Obama settled in his theater seat while he awaited what he thought would be the inevitable – the announcement that a Democrat would continue his legacy for four more years.

“Given that Obama had no formal role in the election, he went to the White House movie theater with his wife, Michelle, and adviser Valerie Jarrett, where they watched Dr. Strange – the superhero movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch,” Bates retold. “Baker writes that Obama's phone buzzed with an update, and he said: 'Huh. Results in Florida are looking kind of strange.' Michelle went to bed early, but as Obama watched TV, he looked on in horror as Trump won Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – which had been Democratic for years.”

Dealing with his drop in popularity

As Obama’s nightmare continued to unfold, he tried to analyze the attack on his ego.

“By the end of the evening, the unthinkable had happened,” Baker relayed from election night. “[Obama grappled over what Americans did to him, thinking they] simply could not have decided to replace him with a buffoonish showman whose calling cards had been repeated bankruptcies, serial marriages and racist dog whistles.'”

It was recounted that Obama advised Clinton to concede the election immediately around 1 a.m., and she obliged, later calling the president to apologize for not continuing his agenda.

“I'm sorry for letting you down,” Clinton told Obama, according to the augmented book.

Above being a setback for Democrats in general, Obama saw the defeat as something personal.

“While Clinton had lost, so had he,” Baker wrote about Obama. “The country that had twice elected Barack Hussein Obama as its president had now chosen as his successor a man who had questioned the very circumstances of his birth. Obama may not have been on the ballot, but it was hard not to see the vote as a 'personal insult,' as he had called it on the campaign trail. 'This stings,' he said. 'This hurts.'”

Appearing composed as a lame duck president was apparently all a façade.

“Obama tried to keep his cool in the weeks afterwards and texted his speechwriter Ben Rhodes: 'There are more stars in the sky than sand on the Earth,'” Bates recalled from the latest edition. “But soon, he was unable to contain his rage, which escalated after he met Trump in the Oval Office. Baker writes that despite being cordial in public, he afterwards summoned Rhodes, who told him that Trump 'peddles in [expletive].'”

An excerpt of the conversation between the two was divulged.

“That character has always been part of the American story,” Rhodes told Obama. “You can see it right back to some of the characters in Huckleberry Finn.”

The president defeatedly agreed.

“Maybe that's the best we can hope for,” Obama responded.

Continued stupor

When the reality of Obama’s fall from adoration settled in, he – at times – wore his emotions on his sleeve.

“As the weeks went by, Obama went through 'multiple emotional stages' – at times being philosophical and other times he 'flashed anger,'” Bates noted from the pages. “He also showed a rare self-doubt and wondered if 'maybe this is what people want', Baker writes.”

Obama exhibited his haughty condescending attitude towards his successor to one of his aides.

“I've got the economy set up well for him – no facts, no consequences,” Obama told his White House worker. “They can just have a cartoon.”

The dejected outgoing president knew Trump would undermine the work he had done while in office to make a name for himself – including his self-named (unconstitutional) Obamacare program, aggressive pro-abortion policies and so-called LGBT “protections” or laws.

“Trump has reversed many of Obama’s policies and practices – including establishing life as a priority in federal law, halting the bowing to foreign leaders and building an ‘America first’ foreign policy,” WND stressed .

But a major target of Obama’s frustration was his first term’s secretary of state.

“To Obama and his team, however, the real blame lay squarely with Clinton,” Baker asserted. “She was the one who could not translate his strong record and healthy economy into a winning message. Never mind that Trump essentially ran the same playbook against Clinton that Obama did eight years earlier, portraying her as a corrupt exemplar of the status quo. She brought many of her troubles on herself … No one forced her to underestimate the danger in the Midwest states of Wisconsin and Michigan … No one forced her to set up a private email server that would come back to haunt her … No one forced her to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from Goldman Sachs and other pillars of Wall Street for speeches … No one forced her to run a scripted, soulless campaign that tested 85 slogans before coming up with 'Stronger Together.'”

Selfish reason for concealing Russian meddling

Obama’s reluctance to expose Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election before ballots were cast was also explained.

“Obama was led by his 'cautious don't-do-stupid-[expletive] instincts' and feared that a forceful response would make Russia 'escalate' its operation,” Bates explained from the book. “Then there was the question of how Trump would react and Obama admitted that 'if I speak out more, he'll just say it's rigged'. Obama wrongly assumed that Clinton would win the election and Obama said in one meeting that Russian President Vladimir Putin 'backed the wrong horse'. In the end, Obama would wait until after the election result before expelling Russian diplomats and it was only weeks before he left office that he released the intelligence assessment confirming that the hacking was done [by] the Kremlin.”

Obama could have refrained from pointedly questioning election meddling in lieu of questionable voter tallies that helped put him in the White House twice – including the fact that Obama received 100 percent of the vote in numerous districts – including ones in Philadelphia – a mathematical and logical impossibility … not to mention buses sweeping people off the streets on election day and transporting them to local voting stations incentivizing them to vote for Obama.

Trump also has reasons for not hitting Obama too hard for concealing Russia’s meddling, but they have not kept him from bringing the former president’s negligence in the matter to light.

“Recent reports have said that Trump's aides will not bring up election security with him because he sees it as de-legitimizing his election victory,” Bates mentioned. “[However,] that has not stopped Trump from blaming Obama for the Russian hacking …”

Trump took to Twitter several days ago to point out one of Obama’s numerous failures as president before surrendering his seat in the Oval Office.

“Anything the Russians did concerning the 2016 Election was done while Obama was president,’” Trump tweeted last week. “He was told about it and did nothing! Most importantly, the vote was not affected.”

Even though Obama held his condescending tongue against Trump as his successor was still unpacking his bags in the White House, the former president has not been shy to heap insults on the 45th president and discredit his accomplishments after his first few months in the nation’s capital.

“Obama largely refrained from criticizing his successor during Trump's initial months in office, but has since joined the chorus of Democrats who have issued sharp criticism of Trump's presidency,” The Hill noted . “In 2018, he actively campaigned for Democratic candidates as his party saw record gains in the House during November's midterm elections.”

And when addressing the booming economy under Trump, Obama has continually attempted to take credit away from the president – insisting that the record-high numbers are a result of the economic policies implemented during his past administration.