Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot Poll: 51 percent of voters want to abolish the electoral college MORE would have won in a landslide if only young people had voted, President Obama said in an interview with Rolling Stone published Tuesday.

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"If you look at the data from the election, if it were just young people who were voting, Hillary would have gotten 500 electoral votes," Obama told the Rolling Stone. "So we have helped, I think, shape a generation to think about being inclusive, being fair, caring about the environment."

Young Americans, he said, "will have growing influence year by year, which means that America over time will continue to get better."

President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE won a total of 306 electoral votes. Clinton won 232 electoral votes but is leading in the popular vote by about 2 million.

Obama couldn't say whether the U.S. is still a progressive country, but "the number of people who have a strong belief in a fair, just, equal, inclusive America is the majority and is growing."

"One of the things that I have been telling my younger staff, who in some cases have only known politics through my presidency, is history doesn't travel in a straight line," Obama said. "And it zigs and it zags and sometimes you take two steps forward and then you take a step back."

CNN exit polls show that Clinton won 55 percent of the vote among people ages 18–29, while Trump received just 36 percent of votes from that age group.