WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama endorsed Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a web video Thursday.
“I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,” Obama said in the video.
“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.”
Obama will campaign with Clinton next week in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
His endorsement made note of the historic nature of Clinton’s being the first female presidential nominee of a major political party. Obama’s endorsement of Clinton brings full circle a relationship that began when the two were rivals in the hard-fought 2008 Democratic nominating contest.
Obama tapped Clinton as his first-term secretary of state — involving both in decisions like the U.S. raid to kill Osama bin Laden and the military intervention in Libya.
His endorsement signals an end to the Democratic primary battle between Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has vowed to fight on through next week’s Washington primary, but on Thursday didn’t repeat his previous claims that he will fight on through the party’s convention in Philadelphia in July.