Everyone Should Hear What President Obama Told His Daughters After the Election

President Obama sat down with The New Yorker's Dave Remnick to discuss his thoughts about the election — particularly how he believes people can move forward in the face of disappointment. There are many highlights from the interview, but one particularly poignant excerpt is about what Obama told his daughters Sasha and Malia after Donald Trump won.

"Societies and cultures are really complicated," Obama said to them. "This is not mathematics; this is biology and chemistry. These are living organisms, and it's messy. And your job as a citizen and as a decent human being is to constantly affirm and lift up and fight for treating people with kindness and respect and understanding."

His advice might have been to his teenagers, but it's pertinent to anyone distressed by the election. When encountering bigotry, Obama offered guidance to them as well. "You don't get into a fetal position about it. You don't start worrying about apocalypse," Obama told them. "You say, 'OK, where are the places where I can push to keep it moving forward?'"

The Obama daughters weren't the only ones in his circle disappointed by the outcome. Obama's staff members were also upset, and he tried to be reassuring for them too. "This is not the apocalypse," he said.