President Obama, Elizabeth Warren endorse Hillary Clinton for president
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has thrown her support behind Hillary Clinton's bid for the While House, just hours after President Barack Obama officially endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Warren, a popular figure with the liberal wing of the Democratic party, told MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" that she was "ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton to become the next president of the United States and to make sure that Donald Trump never gets any place close to the White House."
The endorsement came despite the fact Warren shares a number of interests with Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who like Warren, has campaigned on curbing Wall Street's influence and reducing income inequality.
Also on Thursday, Obama officially endorsed Clinton for president, saying he was "fired up" for his former Secretary of State.
In a prerecorded video released Thursday, Obama latched onto the Clinton campaign's slogan, letting his supporters know that "I'm with her," and pledging to campaign for Clinton. The president's endorsement comes eight years and two days after Clinton did the same for him.
"I know how hard this job can be, that's why I know Hillary will be so good at it," Obama said. "In fact, I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office. She's got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done."
"I've seen her judgement, I've seen her toughness, I've seen her commitment to our values up close," Obama added of his one-time rival.
Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders met with Obama on Thursday — days after many news outlets named Clinton the party's presumptive nominee. Some pundits speculated that Obama would have sought to convince Sanders to drop out of the race, so the Democratic Party could rally around Clinton in preparation for a general election battle against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Instead, the Vermont senator pledged to fight on into next week's Washington, D.C., primary, but he thanked the White House for its role (or lack thereof) in the election so far.
"Let me begin by thanking President Obama and thanking Vice President (Joe) Biden for the degree of impartiality they established during the course of this entire process," Sanders said in brief remarks after his meeting. "What they said in the beginning is that they would not put their thumb on the scales, and in fact they kept their word, and I appreciate that very, very much."
Two Sanders camp sources told CNBC that Obama had "signaled" he would make a Clinton endorsement after their meeting ended Thursday.
"I assure you that Sen. Sanders was not surprised," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during a Thursday news briefing, revealing that the video was recorded Tuesday.
In his endorsement video, the president took time to say that Sanders had run "an incredible campaign," and that he had shone "a spotlight on issues like economic inequality and the outsized influence of money in our politics."
In fact, Obama said, those are messages the Democrats should embrace for the general election. And while Clinton and Sanders may have been rivals during the primary season, "they're both patriots who love this country and they share a vision for the America that we all believe in."
"This has been a hard-fought race," Obama said. "I know some say these primaries have somehow left the Democratic Party more divided: Well, they said that eight years ago, as well."
And just as Democrats' victory in that election paved the way for significant national initiatives, Obama said he expects his party "won't just win in November, we'll build on the progress that we've made and we will win a brighter future for this country that we love."
Although the declarations of Clinton's presumptive victory were based on her delegate haul, Sanders is not technically eliminated from the race because he could theoretically sway the Democrats unbound "super" delegates to his side. Still, that would be a tough sell for the senator: Clinton won more primary contests, more of the popular vote and more regular pledged delegates.
For his part, Trump was unimpressed by the endorsement.
— John Harwood and Reuters contributed to this report.