Obama to Trump on conceding election: ‘Think beyond your own ego’

Former President Obama said in an interview broadcast late Sunday that it is “absolutely” time for President Trump to concede the election, saying his advice to his successor is to “think beyond your own ego” in order to “be remembered as somebody who put country first.”

“A president is a public servant. They are temporary occupants of the office, by design,” Obama said on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” “And when your time is up, then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego, and your own interests, and your own disappointments.”

“My advice to President Trump is, if you want at this late stage in the game to be remembered as somebody who put country first, it’s time for you to do the same thing,” Obama continued.

Former President Barack Obama says President Trump should concede: “When your time is up, then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego, and your own interests, and your own disappointments.” https://t.co/Sv7vR0RzkU pic.twitter.com/UPJ5RXbb8C

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 16, 2020

While the result of the presidential election has not yet been formally certified, news outlets have projected an Electoral College victory for President-elect Joe Biden. Trump’s campaign is challenging the results in key battleground states, alleging without evidence voter fraud and secrecy in ballot counting.

Obama went on to tell “60 Minutes” that “it was time for him to concede probably the day after the election, or at the latest two days after the election.”

“When you look at the numbers objectively, Joe Biden will have won handily,” Obama said. “There is no scenario where those states would turn the other way, certainly not enough to turn the election.”

Obama, who is promoting his new memoir “A Promised Land” in multiple media interviews, also recently called it “disappointing” that more Republicans have not countered Trump’s claims the election was stolen.

“They obviously didn’t think any fraud was going on, because they didn’t say anything about it for the first two days,” he said on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

“When Donald Trump won, I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning and I then called Donald Trump to congratulate him,” Obama said. “His margin of victory over Hillary Clinton wasn’t greater than Joe Biden’s margin over him.”

“But there’s damage to this, because what happens is the peaceful transfer of power, the notion that any of us who attain elected office, whether it’s dog catcher or president, are servants of the people,” he continued. “It’s a temporary job. We’re not above the law. That’s the essence of our democracy.”

WATCH: Former President @BarackObama tells @CBSThisMorning co-host @GayleKing it was “disappointing” to see Republicans supporting President Trump’s baseless claims that the election was rigged.

More on @CBSSunday and @60minutes with @ScottPelley. pic.twitter.com/9GP6PJdDY3

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) November 13, 2020