One of America’s most prominent investigative reporters says newly surfaced archival material shows Barack Obama was emotionally devastated by President Donald Trump’s 2016 election win.
The claim comes from investigative journalist Paul Sperry, a senior reporter for Real Clear Investigations, New York Post columnist, and Hoover Institution media fellow.
Sperry cited what he described as 1,100 hours of audio and video compiled by Columbia University in cooperation with the Obama Foundation documenting the final period of the Democrat’s presidency.
According to Sperry, both Obama and then–National Security Adviser Susan Rice were so distraught after Trump’s victory that they “literally broke down and cried in front of White House staff.”
Obama’s response to the election outcome was reportedly revealed by White House staffers who witnessed the outburst.
Sperry wrote:
“BREAKING: President Obama and his National Security Adviser Susan Rice were so distraught after Trump won in 2016, they literally broke down and cried in front of White House staff, according to 1,100 hours of new audio and video compiled by Columbia University in cooperation with the Obama Foundation.
“After all they’d built, they feared their accomplishments were ‘at risk’ of being torn down by a ‘con man’ and a ‘clown.’
“Ergo, Trump had to be stopped?”
BREAKING: President Obama and his National Security Adviser Susan Rice were so distraught after Trump won in 2016 they literally broke down and cried in front of White House staff, according to 1,100 hours of new audio and video compiled by Columbia University in cooperation with…
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) February 18, 2026
From Tears to Takedown: The Russia Hoax and Spygate
The emotional reaction inside the Obama White House did not occur in isolation.
By now, extensive evidence has demonstrated that senior Obama administration officials played a central role in the origins of what became the Russia collusion hoax, the false narrative that Trump conspired with Moscow to win the presidency.
That narrative dominated headlines for years.
After multiple investigations, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, no evidence established that President Trump colluded with Russia.
The narrative was found to be a fabricated hoax orchestrated by Obama administration officials, including failed 2016 Democrat presidnetial candidate Hillary Clinton.
But separate from the Russia hoax was what critics have labeled “Spygate,” the documented use of intelligence tools during the Obama administration to surveil members of Trump’s orbit.
According to reporting cited by Revolver News and other outlets, irregular querying activity within NSA databases was discovered between November 2015 and April 2016.
An NSA compliance officer flagged the issue, and then-NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers reportedly restricted FBI access and informed the FISA Court.
In April 2017, the FISA Court issued a heavily redacted opinion outlining improper searches and systemic compliance violations tied to FBI access to NSA data.
These audit trails exist.
The court acknowledged improper querying. Access was curtailed.
That sequence unfolded before Trump was even sworn into office.
As Revolver News wrote:
“When powerful people believe something ‘unthinkable’ has happened, and the country is about to fall into the hands of someone they deem illegitimate, that emotional belief can justify a lot of weird power moves in their own minds.”
The outlet distinguishes between what it calls “Russiagate,” the political narrative used to target Trump publicly, and “Spygate,” which refers to the intelligence apparatus being used against political opposition.
Public Reaction: “The Meme Potential Is Unquantifiable”
News of Obama’s reported reaction sparked widespread commentary on social media.
One commenter wrote:
“Video needs to be made public.”
Others framed the reaction as revealing deeper motives behind the subsequent years of investigations and media narratives.
Revolver News described the image of Obama and Rice crying as:
“So incredibly delicious… You can just see it, right?
“The total disbelief, panic, and the ‘this can’t be happening’ energy.”
The outlet argued that the emotional response and the intelligence actions that followed should be viewed together, not separately.
“On one hand, you have an emotional breakdown over Trump’s victory,” the report notes.
“On the other, you’ve got documented intelligence database abuse that predated his inauguration and was serious enough to trigger internal alarms and court findings.”
The Broader Political Context
The claim that Obama and senior aides viewed Trump as illegitimate has long shaped conservative interpretations of the Russia investigation and subsequent impeachment efforts.
What this newly cited material adds is emotional context as senior officials reportedly believed their legacy was “at risk” and that Trump “had to be stopped.”
Whether further footage or documentation becomes public remains to be seen.
But the core question lingers: if senior officials believed the 2016 outcome was unacceptable, what actions did that belief justify in their minds?
That question has defined American politics for nearly a decade, and it is not going away.
READ MORE – Obama: Liberals Promote ‘Coming Together,’ Conservatives Are ‘Mean, Angry, Divisive’
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