Well, this was awkward.
As you’ll no doubt be aware by now, Donald Trump will replace Barack Obama as the next President of the United States of America. It was an outcome that became increasingly apparent as the day/night wore on.
Securing the key battleground states of Ohio, North Carolina and Florida made the result something of a formality when Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta took the stage at her ‘celebration’ event.
Workers at Clinton HQ are disassembling the confetti cannons that did not get used tonight pic.twitter.com/IuzKVPVX2U
— Anthony Zurcher (@awzurcher) November 9, 2016
Except rather bizarrely, Podesta had a confusing dual message of a) somehow claiming Clinton was “not done yet”, whilst b) telling everyone to go home. Perhaps most laughably of all, he signed off with: “Let’s bring this home!”
To compound the awkward embarrassment, a matter of minutes later, news began to filter through that Clinton had already conceded to Trump via a phone call to the Republican candidate.
It brought to mind Saddam Hussein’s (Mis-)Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf – also known as ‘Comical Ali’ – in its sheer delusion and embarrassing transparency.
The cringeworthy footage is below:
“I want every person in this hall and across this country to know that your voices and enthusiasm means so much to her and all of us,” John Podesta told the crowd of Clinton supporters.
“We are so proud of you. And we are so proud of her. She’s done an amazing job and she is not done yet.
“So thank you for being with her, she has always been with you. I have to say this tonight, ‘goodnight’. We will be back with more to say and let’s get those votes counted and let’s bring this home!”
Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta: “They’re still counting votes, and every vote should count” https://t.co/RkfNQLO4cj pic.twitter.com/ouOBEr4sE2
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 9, 2016
