President Obama has a special #ElectionNight message for you: "No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning" pic.twitter.com/OPH39vqvHE
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) November 9, 2016
President Obama is trying to calm frayed nerves after one of the most bitter presidential campaigns in recent memory.
“No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning and America will still be the greatest nation on earth,” Obama said in a video released Tuesday night by BuzzFeed as election results trickled in.
{mosads}Obama’s message was aimed at young voters that exit polls have shown lean toward Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Many have fretted about what might happen to the country if Republican Donald Trump was elected president after making derogatory comments about Latinos and women.
Obama warned Clinton supporters during a rally last week that the “fate of the republic rests on your shoulders.” But he sounded a different tune on election night.
“Let’s face it: This has been an exhausting, stressful, and sometimes downright weird election for all of us,” Obama said.
He noted that it’s common for political debates to be “rowdy and raucous,” adding that “we’ve been through tough and divisive elections before, and we’ve always come out stronger for it.”
Obama is seeking to begin the work of bringing the country back together after an election that pitted two of the most unpopular nominees in history against one another.
Obama urged Americans to treat each other with “respect and empathy and kinship,” especially on Twitter, where Trump supporters have been reported for abusive behavior toward his opponents.
“It’s something we can bring with us to everything we do online and off. We can choose to see the best in one another,” he said.