Obama endorses Clinton for US president

US President Barack Obama has officially endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House, saying she is the most qualified for the job.

“I know how hard this job can be, that is why I know Hillary would be so good at it,” Obama said in a video message on Thursday, after meeting with the former first lady’s rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at the White House.

“In fact I don’t think there has ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,” the president said of Clinton, who became the party’s presumptive nominee on Tuesday, after reaching the 2,383-delegate threshold.

"I want those of you who have been with me since the beginning of this incredible journey to be the first to know that I'm with her," Obama continued. "I am fired up. And I can't wait to get out there and campaign with Hillary."

Referring to his own battle with the former secretary of state in the 2008 presidential election, Obama said Clinton had “the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done,” citing his more than 20 debates with her.

Obama’s endorsement for Clinton came shortly after Sanders’ pledge to work together with her to defeat presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Describing a Trump presidency as a "disaster," the Vermont senator said he would "work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States."

This is while after his Tuesday defeats, Sanders had promised to continue his White House bid regardless of Clinton’s delegate count.

"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 hour-long meeting with Obama.

Obama had on several occasions hinted at backing Clinton’s White House bid, with his administration going so far as blocking the release of significant documents in her email case.

During her tenure as the top US diplomat between 2009 and 2013, Clinton sent and received more than 30,000 emails using a private email server at her home in New York, 2,100 of them classified.

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