Obama endorses Clinton nomination after Sanders meeting- “I’m with her,” Obama has declared in a video statement. His support of Hillary Clinton came just after a meeting in the White House with her defeated rival Bernie Sanders.
“I want to congratulate Hillary Clinton on making history,” US President Obama said in a message posted to Clinton’s official YouTube page on Thursday.
“I know how hard this job can be. That’s why I know Hillary will be so good at it,” he continued. According to the White House, next week Obama will begin campaigning with Clinton, who recently clinched the number of delegates needed for the Democratic nomination.
“I’m with her,” Obama said, referencing a rallying cry used by Clinton supporters.
Speaking with Bloomberg news, Clinton reacted to gaining Obama’s support: “It just means so much to have a strong, substantive endorsement from the president. Obviously, I value his opinion a great deal personally,” Clinton said.
Obama urges Sanders to make peace
Her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, met with President Obama earlier on Thursday in the wake of his loss to Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Obama was expected to play the role of peacemaker as Sanders has doggedly refused to abandon his campaign, even though Clinton’s recent successes in the California and New Jersey primaries secured her the nomination.
Sanders has decried what he sees as Clinton being chosen by the party and the media from the get-go.
Sanders has sworn to see the primary campaign through to the end
Sanders: I will do everything in my power to stop Trump
Despite his refusals to back down against his better-known opponent, a more conciliatory Sanders spoke to the press at the White House after his meeting with Obama.
“I am going to do everything in my power and I will work as hard as I can to make sure Donald Trump does not become president of the United States,” Sanders said, slamming the presumptive Republican nominee as racist and Islamophobic. A Trump presidency would be a “disaster,” he said.
To that end, he said he had called and spoken to Clinton, and was “looking forward to working together” to prevent the controversial real estate mogul’s political success.
He then affirmed his plans to compete in Tuesday’s primary vote in Washington, DC – the last for the Democratic party.