He’s with her! President Barack Obama formally endorsed Hillary Clinton as the next POTUS in a video message released on Thursday, June 9. In the three-minute clip, Obama, 54, explained why he feels Clinton, 68, is the best person to take over the Oval Office.
“I want to congratulate Hillary Clinton on making history as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States,” Obama said in the video (above). “I know how hard this job can be, that’s why I know Hillary will be so good at it. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office.”
“She’s got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done,” he continued. “And I say that as somebody who had to debate her more than 20 times.”
Although the two were once political rivals, during the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination, they came together in 2009 when Clinton accepted Obama’s invitation to serve as the United States’ secretary of state. In his glowing endorsement, he says that working with the former first lady in such close proximity has provided proof as to why she should be president.
“Even after our own hard-fought campaign, in a testament to her character, she agreed to serve our country as secretary of state. From the decision we made in the Situation Room to get Bin Laden to our pursuit of diplomacy in capitals around the world, I have seen her judgment, I’ve seen her toughness,” he said. “I’ve seen her commitment to our values up close. I’ve seen her determination to give every American a fair shot at opportunity no matter how tough the fight was.”
“So I want those of you who’ve been with me from the beginning of this incredible journey to be the first to know that I’m with her,” he added. “I am fired up and I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.”
Obama also took a moment to congratulate Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s Democratic rival, whom he met at the White House on Thursday afternoon.
“I had a great meeting with him this week. I thanked him for shining a spotlight on issues like economic inequality and the outsized influence of money in our politics and bringing young people into the process,” Obama said after praising Clinton. “Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders may have been rivals during this primary, but they’re both patriots who love this country and they share a vision for the America that we all believe in.”
Despite Clinton’s clinching of the nomination, Sanders, 74, has vowed to campaign through the Washington, D.C., primary election on Tuesday, June 14. Once his campaign is over, he plans to campaign for Clinton and “work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States.”
“I look forward to meeting with [Clinton] in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent,” Sanders told reporters after his meeting with Obama.
Watch the video above.
