Obama: Video shows president crying during thank-you speech to campaign staff

US President Barack Obama – often criticized for being aloof and disconnected from ordinary Americans – showed a very human side when he cried during a thank-you speech to his campaign workers on Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

During a five-minute video released by his campaign team, Obama choked up as he praised members of staff and volunteers for their hard work, less than 24 hours after he claimed a decisive electoral college victory in the presidential election, UPI reported.

"I'm really proud of all of you," Obama told the team at his campaign headquarters in Chicago, before wiping away tears.

"I'm absolutely confident that all of you are going to do just amazing things in your lives.”

The Washington Post reported that Obama told the packed room of people mostly aged in their 20s and 30s that their work during the many months leading up to Tuesday’s vote “reminded him of his time as a community organizer in Chicago when he was their age.”

"I became a man during that process. And so when I come here and when I look at all of you, what comes to mind is not that you guys actually remind me of myself, it's the fact that you are so much better than I was, in so many ways," Obama said.

"What Bobby Kennedy called the ripples of hope that come out when you throw a stone in a lake — that's going to be all of you.



“That's why even before last night's results I felt that the work that I had done in running for office had come full circle, because what you guys have done means that the work that I'm doing is important. And I'm really proud of that. I'm really proud of all of you."