Brian Fallon: ‘She really just needed the blue wall to hold’

Brian Fallon was making his way from camera to camera on the television risers above the large crowd that had gathered at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York to witness history.

Fallon, who served as the Hillary Clinton campaign’s national press secretary, was feeling particularly good about their chances. For one thing, early turnout in states like must-win Florida was solid, and the crowds on Election Day — particularly in South Florida — appeared to be record-setting.

{mosads}Late in the afternoon and into the evening, he appeared on a string of networks, exuding confidence. When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked him about the one state he’s “most concerned about” in the final hours of election night, Fallon responded, “Well, Jake, to be honest with you we’re feeling pretty good right now.” 

Fallon was set to do another interview around 8:30 p.m., when he stopped to check on Florida results.

“That was the early canary in the coal mine,” Fallon said. 

The results in the state looked grim, the first big sign that things were amiss. 

“I never did another interview,” he said. “I never went back out [to the television risers] at the Javits Center.”

For a brief period between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., Fallon and other Clinton aides held on to shreds of hope. 

“She really just needed the blue wall to hold,” he remembers thinking. “She really just needed to carry the upper Midwest. 

“And we know how that turned out.”