--- title: Barack Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton for President description: The President took to Instagram and Facebook to make clear that he, too, is with Clinton's presidential campaign. canonical: https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-09T18:03:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T08:28:13.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton for President og:description: The President joins the #imwithher crowd og:url: https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c2c7df16d13b1fe/698897263c1639074f45d94e/obama-clinton-endorsement.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. President Obama attends a comedy show celebrating Military Appreciation Month as well as the 5th anniversary of Joining Forces and the 75th anniversary of the USO at Joint Base Andrews in Clinton, Maryland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton for President twitter:description: The President joins the #imwithher crowd twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c2c7df16d13b1fe/698897263c1639074f45d94e/obama-clinton-endorsement.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton for President ## Video: President Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton for President [Watch (HLS stream): President Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton for President](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RQB9hrQN.m3u8) (3:15)  _Published 2016-06-09_  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:28 AM UTCPublished: Jun 9, 2016 6:03 PM UTC  President Barack Obama attends a comedy show celebrating Military Appreciation Month as well as the 5th anniversary of Joining Forces and the 75th anniversary of the USO at Joint Base Andrews in Clinton, Maryland, U.S. May 5, 2016\. REUTERS/Carlos Barria President Barack Obama attends a comedy show celebrating Military Appreciation Month as well as the 5th anniversary of Joining Forces and the 75th anniversary of the USO at Joint Base Andrews in Clinton, Maryland, U.S. May 5, 2016\. REUTERS/Carlos BarriaCarlos Barria—Reuters  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:28 AM UTCPublished: Jun 9, 2016 6:03 PM UTC President Obama is making clear that he, too, is with her. Presumptive Democratic nominee [Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4361201/hillary-clinton-nomination-history/?xid=homepage)’s campaign shared [a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9W0F2mz1jc) on social media on Thursday announcing that the President was endorsing his onetime rival and former Secretary of State. “I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,” Obama says in the video. “I want to congratulate Hillary Clinton on making history as the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States.” “I want those of you have been with me to be the beginning of this incredible journey to be the first to know that I’m with her,” Obama added in a rollout that was spread across Clinton’s social media footprint. He is the biggest name yet to join the social movement declaring the #imwithher. “I am fired up, I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.” **Read More:** [_Why Presidents Wait to Endorse Their Successors_](http://time.com/4362727/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement-analysis/) The announcement came just after [Obama met with Clinton’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4362969/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-barack-obama/?xid=homepage), who has mathematically lost the nomination but not his spark. Sanders has so far refused to yield to Clinton, who made history on Tuesday by becoming the first woman to lead a major party ticket. Presidents typically endorse their party’s nominee, and his backing of Clinton has long been expected. Clinton served as his Secretary of State during his first term, and the two have developed a deep friendship and mutual respect. Obama has been telling allies that he looks forward to campaigning for her in the fall, and many of his former aides are already at work on her campaign in Brooklyn. The pair will appear at a campaign event next week in Green Bay, Wis. Thursday’s endorsement matters in that it cements his allegiance—and further signals that top Democrats think it is time for Sanders to abandon his campaign. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump chimed in on Twitter to criticize the endorsement. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/740972317191352320) And Clinton responded in kind. > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/740973710593654784) White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded to a question about Trump’s tweet at the press briefing on Thursday. Earnest said that he was not “not surprised” by the fact that the presumptive Republican nominee tweeted. Earnest refuted Trump’s argument, saying the President and his former Secretary of State do not agree on everything. “They do not have the same opinion on every issue,” Earnest said. In the video, he noted, “the president says he does not believe that there has been someone more qualified, a candidate more qualified, to hold this office. “ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/"},"headline":"President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton for President","datePublished":"2016-06-09T18:03:34.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T08:28:13.000Z","description":"The President joins the #imwithher crowd","url":"https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","democrats","2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","White House","Bernie Sanders","Know Right Now"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c2c7df16d13b1fe/698897263c1639074f45d94e/obama-clinton-endorsement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c2c7df16d13b1fe/698897263c1639074f45d94e/obama-clinton-endorsement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Obama attends a comedy show celebrating Military Appreciation Month as well as the 5th anniversary of Joining Forces and the 75th anniversary of the USO at Joint Base Andrews in Clinton, Maryland","caption":"U.S. President Obama attends a comedy show celebrating Military Appreciation Month as well as the 5th anniversary of Joining Forces and the 75th anniversary of the USO at Joint Base Andrews in Clinton, Maryland","creditText":"Carlos Barria—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/","name":"President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton for President"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton for President","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RQB9hrQN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-06-09T18:00:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RQB9hrQN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/","duration":"PT3M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4362633/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-endorsement/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```