Obama Revelations In His New Memoir 3:26
(CNN) -
Former US President Barack Obama said the results of the elections, in which each candidate received more than 70 million votes, show that the nation remains bitterly divided.
“What it says is that we are still deeply divided.
The power of that alternative worldview that is presented in the media and that these voters consume carries a lot of weight, "Obama told Gayle King of CBS News in an interview that aired on" CBS Sunday Morning. "
When asked by King if that worries him, the former president replied: “Yes.
It is very difficult for our democracy to function if we are operating on completely different sets of facts.
Trump does not speak of the elections in his public address 6:38
Obama has conducted a series of interviews scheduled for the launch of the first volume of his memoir, "A Promised Land," which will be available on November 17.
The book chronicles the childhood and political rise of the 44th president, before immersing himself in his historic 2008 campaign and the first four years in the White House.
Obama, the country's first black president, is also critical of President Donald Trump's racist policies, suggesting that his 2008 election sparked a wave of bitter and divisive turmoil that fueled Republican obstructionism and ultimately changed the party.
Obama on Sunday defended his active campaign for President-elect Joe Biden, his former vice president, saying that circumstances justified his public criticism of his successor, something former presidents rarely do.
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"It's not my preference to be there," he told King.
“I think we were in a circumstance in this election where certain norms, certain institutional values that are so extraordinarily important had been violated.
That it was important to me, as someone who had served in that position, just to let people know that this is not normal.
Trump has refused to concede defeat, repeatedly claiming without evidence that the election was rigged and continues to push for legal challenges of the unsubstantiated results.
The formal transition between the Trump administration and the incoming Biden-Harris administration is likely to be pending until the election is certified by a Trump appointee within the General Services Administration in a process known as verification.
LOOK: Obama refers to Trump's conspiracy on his citizenship in his new memoir
During a separate interview with CBS's Scott Pelley that aired Sunday night on "60 Minutes," Obama criticized Republican officials for backing the president's false claims of voter fraud and said the allegations endangered democracy.
“We would never accept our own children behaving that way if they lose, right?
I mean, if my daughters, in any kind of competition, pout and then accuse the other side of cheating when they lose, when there was no evidence of it, we would scold them, "Obama said.
Presidents, he argued, are "temporary occupants of the office, by design."
"And when the time is up, it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego, your own interests and your own disappointments," Obama said.
"My advice to President Trump is that if he wants to be remembered at this last stage of the game as someone who put the country first, it's time for that."
And speaking of the importance of a peaceful transition with King, Obama similarly said that “it's a temporary job.
We are not above the rules.
We are not above the law.
That is the essence of our democracy.
When asked what advice he would give Biden, Obama said he believes the president-elect does not need his advice, but has pledged to help him in "whatever way he can."
"I don't plan on suddenly working on the White House staff or something ... Michelle would leave me," he joked, referring to the former first lady.
«She would ask me like: what?
Are you doing what?
Trump bans investing in Chinese firms 1:42
Although Trump has frequently attacked Obama, the former president said he does not take them seriously.
"There are a lot of things that he says that I don't take personally or seriously, although I think they can often be destructive and damaging," Obama told King.