July 5, 2016

Obama Makes His Pitch for President Hillary Clinton

“Let me tell you, my faith in Hillary Clinton has always been rewarded.”


President Barack Obama joined Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail for the first time on Tuesday, addressing a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, with an impassioned speech to boost support for the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“There has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office than Hillary Clinton—ever,” Obama said. “And that’s the truth. The bottom line is, I know Hillary can do the job, and that’s why I am so proud, North Carolina, to endorse Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States.”

He continued lavishing praise on Clinton, focusing on her vigorous performance as his Democratic primary opponent in 2008 and her later tenure as his administration’s secretary of state to highlight her willingness to put the country’s direction above politics. Obama also took shots at Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and painted him as an unskilled candidate focused on self-promotion.

“Everybody’s got an opinion, but nobody actually knows the job until you’re sitting behind the desk,” he said. “Everybody can tweet, but nobody actually knows what it takes to do the job until you’ve sat behind the desk. I mean, Sasha tweets but she doesn’t think she should thereby be sitting behind the desk.”

The president’s appearance in the swing state came just hours after FBI Director James Comey announced the agency would recommend no charges against Clinton in the criminal investigation into her use of a private email server while secretary of state. While he did not directly address the federal probe, Obama sought to use her tenure as secretary of state to emphasize her strong leadership and dedication to public service.

“Hillary continues to understand that a bunch of hard talk doesn’t replace diplomacy,” Obama said. “A bunch of baloney doesn’t keep us safe. She offers a smarter approach that uses every element of America power to protect our allies.”

He added, “She is and will be a stateswoman that makes us proud around the world.”

Shortly after the speech concluded, Clinton tweeted in gratitude:

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Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

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“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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