London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Obama says election results show nation is deeply divided

Obama says election results show nation is deeply divided

Former President Barack Obama said the election results, in which each candidates received more than 70 million votes, show the nation remains bitterly split.

"What it says is that we are still deeply divided. The power of that alternative worldview that's presented in the media that those voters consume -- it carries a lot of weight," Obama told CBS News' Gayle King in an interview that aired on "CBS Sunday Morning."

Asked by King if that worries him, the former President responded, "Yes. It's very hard for our democracy to function if we are operating on just completely different sets of facts."

Obama has done a series of interviews timed to the release of the first volume of his memoir, "A Promised Land," which will be available November 17. The book chronicles the 44th President's childhood and political rise, before diving into his historic 2008 campaign and first four years in the White House.

Obama, the country's first Black president, also confronts the racist politics of President Donald Trump, suggesting his 2008 election opened a wave of bitter and divisive turmoil that fueled Republicans' obstructionism and ultimately changed the party.

Obama on Sunday defended his active campaigning for President-elect Joe Biden, his former vice president, saying circumstances warranted his public criticism of his successor -- something that former presidents usually don't do.

"It is not my preference to be out there," he told King. "I think we were in a circumstance in this election in which certain norms, certain institutional values that are so extraordinarily important, had been breached. That it was important for me, as somebody who had served in that office, to simply let people know, 'This is not normal.'"

Trump has refused to concede, repeatedly claiming without evidence that the election was rigged and continuing to push unsupported legal challenges of the results. The formal transition between the Trump administration and the incoming Biden-Harris administration is likely to remain on hold until the election is certified by a Trump appointee within the General Services Administration in a process known as ascertainment.

During a separate interview with CBS' Scott Pelley that is set to air Sunday on "60 Minutes," Obama slammed Republican officials for backing the President's false claims of election fraud and said the allegations endangered democracy. And speaking on the importance of a peaceful transition with King, Obama said that "it's a temporary job. We're not above the rules. We're not above the law. That's the essence of our democracy."

Asked what advice he would give Biden, Obama said he believes the President-elect doesn't need his advice but pledged to help him in "any ways that I can."

"I'm not planning to suddenly work on the White House staff or something ... Michelle would leave me," he joked of the former first lady. "She'd be like what?

You're doing what?"

Although, Trump has frequently attacked Obama, the former President said he does not take them seriously.

"There are many things he says that I do not take personally or seriously, although I think they can often be destructive and harmful," Obama told King.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×