President Barack Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett had some tough words for Democrats fretting about President-elect Donald Trump’s impending presidency.
“Well look, the campaign’s over, and elections have consequences,” she said shortly during a podcast with Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart, who asked her to address Americans who were “truly frightened” about the Trump administration.
Jarrett said that it was the Obama team’s job to provide a smooth transition for the upcoming Trump administration. She cited the “professional and amazing way” that the George W. Bush team welcomed them as an example.
“That’s our job now. It’s not to be a Monday morning quarterback on individual selections that the president-elect might make or anticipate what he might do in the future,” she said. “I think we got to give him room to see what he does.”
She recalled that she approached the Bushes with some apprehension after Obama beat Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.
“I remember thinking, ‘Well they probably won’t want to talk with us because we ran a really tough campaign and obviously campaigned against a lot of his policies,’” she recalled. “And they welcomed us with open arms, and were extremely constructive and helpful.”
Capehart then asked Jarrett about what television show she would “binge-watch” on the day she she left the White House.
“I am going to not be able to binge watch, because I am going to be on a beach somewhere that has no access to television or the internet or anything else,” she replied. “I’m going to be a long long way away by the end of that day.”
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