On Thursday's New Day, during a panel discussion of the scheduled meeting at the White House between President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump, and whether the two would be cordial despite their differences, co-host Alisyn Camerota at one point wondered why it is that President Obama "has to be gracious" to Trump instead of just sending an intern to meet him. Camerota: "Why does President Obama have to be gracious? Why can't, I mean, I'm curious about the optics of this. Are he and First Lady Michelle going to the front door and going to glue smiles on their face and graciously open their arms and their home to Donald Trump, the man who questioned President Obama's birth, his citizenship, his family, his credentials, his legitimacy? Or can they just send an intern to the front door to let him in?"





After guest Jason Johnson of The Root lauded President Obama as someone who has "always been the dad-in-chief. He's always been the one who wanted to be more gracious. He's always been the one who's been noble," co-host Chris Cuomo brought up the thousands of protesters who are reacting against Trump's election, and asserted it is "not unexpected" as people are "trying to deal with this Jekyll and Hyde thing" of Trump getting elected.

Cuomo:

So what we're seeing on the streets in all these different cities is not to -- is not unexpected, right? I mean, there are a lot of hard feelings here, and people are trying to deal with this Jekyll and Hyde thing of having President-elect Trump. He came out and said the things that a President usually says when they win about "let's bind the wound and be together." The problem is, for many of those people on that street and, you know, millions and millions of people across the country, he created the wounds. So how do you deal with that contrast?

Abby Philips of The Washington Post also sounded sympathetic to the protesters as she began her response:

Right, I mean, I think you can't really blame folks for taking Donald Trump's actual words at face value. And, frankly, for most people who are elected to the presidency, what they say they're going to do is the strongest indicator of what they actually do, so it's not surprising to see that.

She then invoked the complaints of those angry about Trump winning the presidency in the Electoral College despite receiving fewer popular votes nationwide:

But this is also the sort of perennial Monday morning quarterbacking in which everyone looks back and says, "Wow, we really should get rid of the Electoral College because it's not working out the way we want to," and I think it's just a wakeup call for some folks who have not been paying super-close attention to the electoral process, that this is in fact the way that it works where one candidate can win the popular vote, the other can lose the -- can win the Electoral College and thus become President.

Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Thursday, November 10, New Day on CNN: