President Barack Obama made his 2016 campaign debut with Hillary Clinton Tuesday, just hours after FBI Director James Comey called the Democratic presumptive nominee and her aides “extremely careless” over her use of a private email server as secretary of State.
Obama appeared on stage with Clinton at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina, a critical swing state.
“I can tell you this, Hillary Clinton has been tested,” Obama said. “There has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office,” he said.
Obama did not mention Republican nominee Donald Trump by name, although he did make reference to him.
“I know the other guy talks about making America great again. America’s really great,” Obama said. “This is a choice between whether we are going to cling to some imaginary past or whether we’re going to reach for the future.”
The President praised Clinton for her toughness during the four years she served as secretary of state, and said he gained respect for her following their hard-fought 2008 primary campaign.
“I came away from that primary admiring her even more because during that year-and-a-half, I had a chance to see up close, just how smart she was and just how prepared she was, especially since I debated her a couple dozen times,” Obama said. “I saw how even when things didn’t go her way, she’d just stand up straighter and come back stronger.”
Clinton, who spoke before the President, also acknowledged how her relationship with Obama has evolved since their heated race eight years ago.
“I feel very privileged because I’ve known the President in many roles. As a colleague in the Senate, as an opponent in a hard-fought primary, and the President I was so proud to serve as secretary of state,” Clinton said.
“I also know him as the friend that I was honored to stand with in the good times and the hard times. Someone who has never forgotten where he came from,” she said.
You can watch their full speeches in the video above.
Clinton will visit Atlantic City on Wednesday, where she plans to highlight Donald Trump’s business record, ABC News reported.
Clinton’s campaign says a time and location for her appearance have not been finalized. However, UNITE-HERE Local 54 President Bob McDevitt has announced she will be appearing at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, where nearly 1,000 workers are on strike, according to Press of Atlantic City.
