President Obama claims he is 'confident' he could have beaten Trump in 2016

President Obama.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama defended his vision of America on David Axelrod's The Axe Files podcast, claiming he is confident "that if I had run again and articulated [this vision], I think I could've mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it."

The interview was the latest in Obama's post-election and pre-exit analysis, and he told his former senior adviser that despite Donald Trump winning, "what I would argue is, is that the culture actually did shift, that the majority does buy into the notion of a one America that is tolerant and diverse and open and full of energy and dynamism." Obama instead blamed the Democrats for ignoring swaths of the voting population: "If you think you're winning, then you have a tendency, just like in sports, maybe to play it safer," he said of Hillary Clinton's defeat. Listen here.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.