U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday gave an impassioned speech praising the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, saying that “There has never been any man or woman more qualified” to hold the office of president.
At the first appearance by the president supporting Clinton’s campaign, both he and the candidate reviewed their joint history since meeting each other as senators, including their rivalry in the 2008 Democratic primaries, through working together “shoulder to shoulder” with him as president and her as secretary of state.
“My faith in Hillary Clinton has always been rewarded. I have had a front-row seat to her judgment and her toughness and her commitment,” Obama said to a large crowd at the Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“You gotta apply steady judgment, even when things don’t go your way … The fact is, Hillary is steady, and Hillary is true,” the president said
Obama recalled that this is not the first time that the two leaders have campaigned together, although they were rivals during 2008, a campaign from which the president emerged the victor.
Obama emphasized Clinton’s ability to keep personal feelings out of her decision-making, while noting that she has a passion for helping anyone who is facing discrimination or inequality.
The president also had remarks for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, although he did not mention his name directly.
“You can’t be reckless. You don’t have the luxury of saying just whatever pops in your head. You can’t just kick out reporters. You can’t go to another country and just say ‘kick them out,'” he said, referring to Trump’s blacklisting of several news organizations for what he deemed to be negative or unfair reporting.
He said that everyone has an opinion and everyone can post comments on Twitter – as Trump has done – but nobody really knows what it takes to do the job of president until they sit in the Oval Office.
‘The president also said that the November elections will provide Americans with a choice between two very different views of how the country should be run.