President Barack Obama's message to black voters is simple: Stay at home on Election Day and it equates to a vote for Donald Trump.
In an interview on the "Steve Harvey Morning Show" that aired Wednesday, Obama warned against complacency.
"If you don't vote, that's a vote for Trump," said Obama, who has become Hillary Clinton's chief surrogate in appealing to African-American voters.
"If you vote for a third-party candidate who's got no chance to win, that's a vote for Trump. So the notion somehow that, 'Well, you know, I'm not as inspired because Barack and Michelle, they're not on the ballot this time, and, you know, maybe we kind of take it easy' _ my legacy's on the ballot. You know, all the work we've done over the last eight years is on the ballot."
In recent weeks, Obama has delivered fiery calls to black voters, urging them to get to the polls and support Clinton.
"I will consider it a personal insult _ an insult to my legacy _ if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election," he said at a gala hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus this month.
National and swing state polls show Clinton has strong support among African-American voters. Still, as polls narrow in several swing states, such as Ohio and Florida, Clinton is banking on black voters to help carry those states.
In 2008 and 2012, turnout among African-Americans reached all-time highs. Democrats' challenge this cycle is to replicate that turnout in November with the nation's first black president absent from the ballot.
In the interview, which was recorded Tuesday, Obama praised Clinton's performance in the first debate a night earlier, saying she showed that she "is capable, tough, does her homework, cares about the same things I care about."
"And then on the other side, you've got Mr. Trump, who is unqualified, doesn't do his homework, doesn't know basic facts that you need to know if you're going to be president," he added.
Obama referred to Trump's comments about the former Miss Universe contestant he criticized after gaining weight, saying that someone who judges a person based on how they look and not based on "the content of their character ... is not somebody I want in the Oval Office that my daughters are listening to, and that sons are listening to."
"Across the board, you've got somebody who appears to only care about himself," he said.
