Opposite of donald trump, its barack obama. Part two of a special twopart series. Obama came on the mandate of changing washington. By his very presence, he forced more polarization and gridlock than we had seen in the eight years prior. Divided states of america frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Major support for frontliis provided by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information is available at macfound. Org. Additional support is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. The john and Helen Glessner family trust, supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. And by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. cheers and applause the president elect of the United States of america, donald trump. cheers and applause the trump we saw on Election Night, that face almost welled up with emotion, tight grimace, bewilderment in the eyes. That was a different trump. Id never seen that trump in all my time covering him. Sorry to keep you waiting; complicated business, complicated. Narrator donald trump rode to victory as the ultimate political outsider. His election capped a revolution inside the Republican Party. Lets face it, he was larger than the Republican Party. In fact, his nomination was the hostile takeover of the Republican Party. Narrator for years he had been watching and waiting. He saw this moment. He saw that the gop had been breaking up, and he seized that. Narrator he had harnessed the anger of an increasingly frustrated segment of the American Public. Trump was so unfiltered, that he was speaking straight to tens of millions of americans who think that theyve been betrayed not anger, betrayal by both washington and wall street. And they were looking for someone whowho spoke their language, and had their passion, and wouldnt back down. Narrator donald trump had stepped into a conflict that had been building throughout Barack Obamas presidency. To see the two of them in the oval office was kind of the, you know, the final moment of, how in the world did this happen . And what have we just gone through . Narrator during the obama years clashes over politics, race, and the economy revealed deep divisions that gave rise to a political insurgency. sirens wailing polls open across the country. Its going to be a fierce battle for control in the house and the senate. One of the most closely watched midterm elections in years. Narrator the first clear sign of the insurgency to come was in november 2010. You cant understand what happened with this divide without understanding the 2010 elections because thats the whole deal. An historic election for the Republican Party. Narrator the democrats and the president suffered an historic defeat, and had lost control of congress. And a whole new day in washington. A major victory for. Well, it was obviously a sobering outcome, the midterm. And he was very. Unhappy and sad about the loss. We had a meeting at the white house, and the president began by saying, we got our butts kicked, and theres no doubt about it. Now the republicans back in power in the house of representatives. What youve got is a very unhappy electorate. Narrator many of the new republicans had run on a pledge to oppose the president , and enact a conservative agenda. Once you change power on the capitol hill, it changes how the other side of pennsylvania deals with it. Who are the players, whats possible, whether they want to get anything done, whether they even want to work with you. Narrator the president called the election a shellacking. But he could not know just how consequential the loss would be. You know, some Election Nights are more fun than others. Some are exhilarating, some are humbling. Its clearly one of the most critical moments in the Obama Presidency because it says were now solidifying and accelerating this polarization, this division between the parties. One more question, please . Narrator just two years before, barack obama had arrived on a promise that he could unify the country and transform washington. We have never been just a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of america narrator but in his first year, he faced unexpected populist anger from what was called the tea party. You want to kill my grandparents, you come through me first government run amok. Narrator . Over health care reform. He rammed it down americas throat. Narrator . Wall street bailouts. Devastated by losses in mortgage investments. Narrator . And obama himself. How about being able to call half the country racist . Whats that going to do for your fundraising . He came into office with a very naive view of politics, and very quickly was reeducated. So how is that hopey, changey thing working out for ya . His biggest misunderstanding about american politics was that it wasnt polarized. Youre pathetic afroleninism we cant afford it. Narrator but for the republican establishment, the polarization was an opportunity. There were a lot of angry citizens across america. They saw that the democratic majority, along with the president , were going in a direction where i dont think people thought they would go. No dont do this to us narrator it was an anger that gave the gop an historic midterm victory, and set the stage for an insurgency inside the Republican Party. New year, new congress, new strategy. Day one in congress, sworn in. The 112th congress. Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the United States . Narrator the Tea Party Class of 87 new republicans came to the capitol armed with revolutionary fervor. So help you god. I do. Congratulations. cheers and applause narrator they arrived determined to transform the american government, and their own party. I think all 87 came here with the idea to change washington. There was a tremendous amount of energy when we first got here. They came into office with the sounds of the tea partiers, the concerns of the tea partiers, their reaction to obamas massive overspending and a rejection of eight years of bush. Not just the cost of wars and occupation, but the complete disregard of cost of government as an issue. Republicans said this was not an election about. Narrator but to change washington, the insurgent freshmen would first have to deal with their own leader, the consummate political insider, the new speaker of the house, john boehner. I now pass this gavel and the sacred trust that goes with it to the new speaker. God bless you, Speaker Boehner. cheers and applause he is a career politician, ohioan, hardscrabble upbringing, arrived in 1990, was part of the gang that went after the democrats over the bank scandals, rose to power, became a deal maker. Narrator boehner had spent ten terms in congress, working his way up the leadership ladder. John boehner regards himself as an institutionalist, a guy who really loves, reveres even, the house of representatives. I didnt need to be speaker because i needed a fancy title, or a big office. I wanted to be speaker so i could lead an effort to deal with the serious issues that are facing our country. Narrator now boehner would have to deal with the insurgents who came to washington to take on the establishment he embodied. I dont think he knew what had fallen into his lap. I dont think he recognized that this was going to be such a hard ride. House republicans of the 112th congress plotted strategy. Narrator the week after they were sworn in, boehner and the House Republicans headed to a private retreat in baltimore. Talk about getting back to work. The twoandahalf days of presentations. Narrator they came together to bond and build a strategy. What are the republicans planning . Narrator the Star Attraction in baltimore was not john boehner, but his heir apparent and political rival eric cantor. Cantor is more in tune with the newer Republican Party than john boehner. Hes a very ambitious politician, a skilled operator, and an operator, and somebody whose ambitions to be speaker or to be the republican leader have been evident from the start. Narrator cantor told the Tea Party Class that they had been sent to washington to rein in the president. The president and his team totally disregarded half the country, if not more, when he did things Like Health Care reform strictly on a partisan basis. These are things are too big to be done with just one party. So we need a check and balance on this president and thats why the republicans, i believe, we were elected into majority in 2010. elevator dinging narrator at the baltimore retreat, cantor outlined a strategy for playing hardball with the president. Cantor talked about these leverage options they had, shutting down the government or cutting off funding for this or that. And it aroused all of this excitement inside the Republican Base. They started to think these things could actually happen. Narrator cantor left baltimore after telling the freshmen that one of their first jobs would be to get behind a tough new budget that would radically change the size and scope of the american government. A manifesto that would return the country to eisenhowerera levels of government spending. I mean, its an incredibly austere document. Narrator it was written by cantors friend, congressman paul ryan, and was called the ryan budget. The nations fiscal trajectory is simply not. Narrator it was designed to take on the governments debt lowering taxes, repealing obamas health care law, even the privatization of medicare. Well, paul ryan is a very talented person. From a budget perspective and a numbercrunching perspective, he gets it. He built a budget that was the best way to bring some of that fiscal sanity back in washington. Ryan is no doubt an upcoming star, particularly. I mean, this guy on the budget. Narrator backing ryan and the Tea Party Class, a chorus of voices on conservative talk radio and websites. His proposal has a chance of saving our country. Narrator . Angry at washington and looking for a fight. Theres going to be a hundred years of darkness that follows us if we dont win this battle today. Narrator it was an important test for obama. Would he compromise or stand his ground . Theyre clearly threatened by him just as they are threatened by sarah palin and the others. They had this idea, theyd give this speech, a powerful fullthroated defense of his view of the fiscal situation. President obama will share his plans in a speech at George Washington university. Narrator he decided to push back, drafting an aggressive speech that would take on the ryan budget. The decision was made that we had to frame this in a very aggressive way about what we wanted and what the president believed in. President obama will talk about his plans to reduce the National Debt during a speech. Narrator but as the white house staff gathered washingtons alist, they made an error. They accidentally invited paul ryan, and gave him a front row seat. They had done what you normally do on one of these speeches, is they invited the congressional leaders. And somehow, it didnt filter up to the top who just was. Who was going to be there. Narrator obamas chief of staff, bill daley, was one of the first to notice. When i saw him in the room, i thought oh, my god. So in paul ryans mind and he told me this he goes to the George WashingtonUniversity Speech thinking, maybe this is the moment where after weve laid out our negotiating positions, we start to come together a little bit. Thats what he thinks hes stepping into. applause thank you. Narrator daley tried to warn the president , but it was too late. Obama, you know, with the lights in his eyes, they say, unable to see whos directly in front of him, just launches into a blistering condemnation of the republican budget and how this is, you know, a very small and painful vision of a country shrinking. Theres nothing serious or courageous about this plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending 1 trillion on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. Thats not a vision of the america i know. It was an astonishing swipe at a congressman who happened to be sitting right there in the audience. And worst of all, this is a vision that says even though americans cant afford to invest in education, even though we cant afford to maintain our commitment on medicare and medicaid, we can somehow afford more than 1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy. I mean, jesus, it was. It was heavy. He didnt use ryans name, he just made fun of anyone who could propose anything like what he had read recently as a proposal presented to the House Republican leadership that did this to old people and, oh, on and on. It was. It was tough. And it was nasty. applause paul ryan gets up after its all over and he makes a quick exit. Narrator the president s top economic adviser, gene sperling, ran after ryan. Sperling jumped up like hed been sitting in an electric chair, rushed out to mollify him. All i was trying to do was to let him know that, uh, that we did not know they were coming. His response was that he felt the president had poisoned the well. President took to task in his remarks yesterday. Ryan was deeply offended by having been put into that position, and his republican friends were even more angry. President obama blasted paul ryans budget this weekend. That was a personal bitch slap, primo insult. Narrator the republicans were outraged. Furious that the president was so partisan. Narrator that afternoon, ryan and cantor went on the offensive. What we got was a speech that was excessively partisan, dramatically inaccurate and hopelessly inadequate to addressing our countrys pressing fiscal challenges. The only concrete proposal that he proposed was raising taxes, and that solution falls far short of dealing with the kind of crisis that were facing as far as the debts concerned in this country. We are teetering on the brink of utter economic destruction. Narrator just months into the new republican congress, the battle with the president was only growing. They are enslaving future generations to massive debt, massive government. Narrator in new york city, a political outsider was watching and listening. This election was about defeating obama, it was about stopping obama, it was about stopping the democrats. It was not about. Donald trump saw a vacuum in which he could step into and have some kind of influence. Trump saw an opportunity. Obamas hell bent on weakening america, and he has told us. Narrator the Real Estate Developer and reality tv star was looking for a way to raise his political profile. Why wont they release the birth certificate . What is the logic, whats the connection . Why dont they just release it and get it over with . Narrator trump saw an opening in a Conspiracy Theory surrounding obamas birthplace. The question is that we have given the keys of the kingdom to a stranger, and thats why these myths live. Donald trump realized that this issue, which had been lurking in the shadows of american politics, basically ignored and mocked by the mainstream press, resonated with a certain kind of voter out there. Back to this birther business for just a second. Obama is an unknown man, may not be a citizen, surrounded by radicals, surrounded by terrorists. Why president obama would have spent 2 million to not show his birth certificate. Mr. President , if you have nothing to hide, why are you hiding everything . Trump understands among republicans theres a very substantial majority who have questions about obamas origins and how he just pops up out of nowhere to become a National Figure and whether he was in fact eligible to serve as president. One last one, this lady in red has her hand up. Narrator in cities and towns across america, the issue struck a chord. cheers and applause narrator Establishment Republicans had tried to avoid the birther issue, but the questions were growing on the internet. He wont even produce a birth certificate, dont you love that . Obviously, if theres something there that the president doesnt want people to see on that birth certificate. Narrator trump seized the issue. And he sat up in trump tower watching. And, trump, who comes out of the new york tabloid wars, saw that the Republican Party wasnt countering obama with really tabloid fervor. More than 40 of the population still question whether hes actually an american or not. It was a universe in which there was already this reservoir of skepticism, and trump walked in and just dropped a match into it. Please welcome my friend, donald trump. Narrator he made himself the face of the Birther Movement. Why doesnt he show his birth certificate . I think he probably. Why should he have to . Because i have to and everybody else has to, whoopi. Why wouldnt he show . Excuse me. No, excuse me. I really believe theres a birth certificate. Why. Look, shes smiling. Why doesnt he show his birth certificate . When he was becoming the leader of the Birther Movement, i think he understood who he was speaking to, it was the archie bunkers who were uncomfortable with an African American president. I never heard any white president asked to be shown the birth certificate. You are not allowed to be a president if youre not born in this country. He may not have been born in this country. Narrator to obama, the Birther Movement was about more than where he was born. It made it easy for pe