Obama hits the campaign trail with Clinton

President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2008

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 5 July 2016

President Obama will make his first appearance on the campaign trail Tuesday at a joint rally with Hillary Clinton in Charlotte, North Carolina. Arriving together on Air Force One, the one-time political foes will emphasize party unity in the battle against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Democrats are hopeful that Obama's positive approval ratings, which sit at 50 percent, will give Clinton's numbers a boost. Obama will emphasize his transformed relationship with Clinton and her "strength of character" to combat some voters' impressions of Clinton as untrustworthy, Reuters reports. "[He] has developed a deep appreciation for her toughness under fire and her commitment to a set of values that the president shares ... Those values are principally the reason the president believes that she is the best person to succeed him," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday.