President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton; Sanders Hints At Concession

President Obama endorsed Hillary Clinton for president Thursday, calling his former secretary of state and one-time political rival supremely prepared to lead the country.

"I know how hard this job can be," Obama said in an endorsement video. "That's why I know Hillary will be so good at it. In fact, I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office."

While the endorsement was expected, the timing wasn't.

The president met with her political rival, Bernie Sanders, earlier in the day, and many believed Obama would sit out until after the year's final primary, Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

In remarks outside the White House after meeting with the president, Sanders thanked Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for being "impartial" throughout his primary battle. Sanders repeated the issues that propelled him to primary and caucus victories in nearly half the states, promising to take the problems of income disparity and campaign finance with him to the Democratic National Convention next month.

And while he did not formally bow out of the race — he trails by hundreds of delegates with only Washington, D.C., left to vote Tuesday — Sanders said he will do anything he can to make sure Trump does not take the White House.

"Donald Trump would clearly, to my mind, and I think to the majority of Americans, be a disaster as president of the United State," he told reporters. "It's unbelievable to me -- and I say this sincerely -- that the Republican party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign."

Sanders, who was scheduled to hold a rally Thursday night in the nation's capital, said he will stay in the race through Tuesday's primary but hopes to meet with Clinton and talk about how they can work together.

Trump used his preferred method of communication Thursday afternoon to immediately criticize the endorsement:

Clinton's comeback became her most retweeted tweet of the campaign:

Keeping with the tradition of most sitting presidents, Obama had stayed officially neutral during the nominating process within his own party, commenting publicly to support both candidates while regularly condemning Trump and the tone of the Republican campaign. 

After Tuesday's voting, Clinton secured a majority of pledged delegates and was expected to have the support of enough superdelegates to formally win the nomination at the Democratic convention in late July. Obama's endorsement was recorded Tuesday afternoon, before any of the day's results had come in, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest.

The endorsement is seen as a major step in unifying the party ahead of what is sure to be a bruising general election fight against Trump. While Sanders has still pledged to stay in the race until the last vote is cast, he has reined in his attacks against Clinton significantly while hammering Trump in recent remarks.

Clinton and the president are hardly strangers.

The two ran against each other in the Democratic primary eight years ago before Clinton bowed out of the race on June 5. Their primary campaigns against each other were at times combative, with Clinton attacking Obama for his lack of experience.

"Look I have said Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign, I will bring a lifetime of experience, and Senator Obama will bring a speech he made in 2002," she once said.

Obama went after Clinton for being a part of the political establishment, saying in one debate that while he was working in Chicago, Clinton "was a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of WalMart."

But that was about as sharp as the jabs ever got. After Obama won the general election in November, he named Clinton his secretary of state, and she tied herself closely to the president and his success while on her way to defeating Sanders.

"It's just such a treat because over the years of knowing each other, we've gone from fierce competitors to true friends," Clinton said in an interview with Bloomberg that was published following Obama's endorsement.

They will campaign together for the first time Tuesday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“I want to be out there with him and have a chance to campaign with him,” Clinton told Bloomberg. “It just means so much to have a strong, substantive endorsement from the president. Obviously I value his opinion a great deal personally.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Main image: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the campaign trail together in October 2008, via Nathan Forget, Flickr.