With President Obama in Charlotte, North Carolina - July 5, 2016

Thank you so much. Hello, Charlotte. It's great to be back in North Carolina with so many friends:

With Congresswoman Alma Adams, and Congressman David Price, and Congressman G.K. Butterfield.

And your next U.S. Senator, Deborah Ross.

And your next Governor, Roy Cooper.

And of course, with our president, Barack Obama.

I feel very privileged because I've known the President in many roles. As a colleague in the Senate. As an opponent in a hard-fought primary. And as the President I was so proud to serve as Secretary of State. But I've also known him as the friend that I was honored to stand with in good times and hard times. Someone who has never forgotten where he came from. And Donald, if you're out there tweeting, it's Hawaii.

Over the years, we've had some memorable experiences together—like storming a secret meeting of foreign leaders at a global climate summit. That was fun. You should have seen the Chinese guards try to stop us. Now, they put their arms out and the President just went right through. Then they put their arms out, and I went right under. And the President, with that amazing smile of his, said, "Hey, we've been looking for you."

Now through it all, as we went from rivals to partners to friends, my esteem for him just kept growing. So did my admiration for his brilliant wife, Michelle, and those two amazing daughters that they have raised. My husband and I know how hard it is to raise a child in the public eye, in the fishbowl of the White House. But the Obamas have done a fabulous job. Malia—who just graduated from high school and celebrated her 18th birthday yesterday—and Sasha who has the energy and enthusiasm of a wonderful young woman. Now I happen to think those two young woman might be the most impressive accomplishment of all for our President.

Now it means so much to have the President's support in this campaign. After all, he knows a thing or two about winning elections—take it from me.

And he also knows that despite all the progress we've made under his leadership, and yes we have, we still have a lot of work to do.

President Obama's job, one that he did not ask for but was handed to him, was to save us from a second Great Depression—and that is exactly what he did. Actually, I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for saving our economy.

We've added 14 million private-sector jobs. The auto industry just had its best year ever. 20 million people now have health care. Clean energy production has soared. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. That's what leadership looks like.

Our next president has a different job to do—building on the progress that President Obama has made. We have to continue to take on deep structural challenges that existed long before the crisis. We can see it here in North Carolina and across the country: inequality is too high, wages are too low, and it's just too hard to get ahead.

We need an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.

So we're setting five big, ambitious goals.

First, under President Obama and Vice President Biden, we've had 75 straight months of job growth. I want us to see 75 more. So in my first 100 days as President, we'll make the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

And when I say good-paying jobs, I mean exactly that. Donald Trump thinks wages are too high. He actually stood on the debate stage and said that. He wants to get rid of the federal minimum wage altogether.

Well, I think anyone who is willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays well enough to raise a family. So we're going to increase the federal minimum wage, and give the middle class a raise. That's good for our families, good for our economy, and boy is it good for our country.

Second, we're going to make college debt-free for all. And we're going to build on the President's idea to make community college free. And we're going to help millions of people struggling with existing student debt save thousands of dollars.

Third, we're going to rewrite the rules, and crack down on companies that ship jobs overseas and profits to go with them. Let's reward the companies that share profits with their employees instead.

And we're going to defend and strengthen the tough reforms President Obama put in place on the financial industry—not tear them up like Donald Trump says he'll do. We need to make sure that Wall Street can never wreck Main Street ever again.

Fourth, we're going to make sure that Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes. It is just plain wrong that a millionaire can pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries, and we're going to stop it. And oh, by the way, we're going to keep asking to see Donald Trump's tax returns.

And finally, we're going to step up and respond to the way American families actually live and work in the 21st century. Our families, our workplaces have changed, so isn't it time for our policies to change?

Donald Trump can accuse me of playing "the woman card" all he wants, but if fighting for equal pay and affordable childcare and paid family leave is playing the woman card, then deal me in.

Most of all, most of all, most of all though, we're going to build on the vision for America that President Obama has always championed—a vision for a future where we do great things together, not as red states and blue states but as the United States.

When I look at President Obama, I see a leader with heart, depth, and humility. Someone who, in spite of the obstruction he's faced, still reaches for common ground and common purpose.

Some of you might remember, that he and I competed against each other as hard as we could back in 2008. But when it was over, I was proud to endorse him and campaign for him.

And I'll never forget when he called me the Sunday after the election, asking me to come to Chicago. It turned out he wanted me to be Secretary of State, and I don't think anybody saw that coming—especially me.

And as I travelled on behalf of our country, a lot of people around the world asked how President Obama and I could work so well together after being such fierce competitors. In some places, the person who loses an election gets exiled or executed, not asked to be Secretary of State.

But President Obama asked me to serve, and I accepted. You know why? We both love our country.

That is how democracy is supposed to work. We just celebrated 240 years of independence. In America, we put common interest before self-interest. We stand together because we know we're stronger together.

That's the kind of president Barack Obama has been. He's made difficult, even unpopular decisions for the good of our country. I have sat with him in the Situation Room and seen him make the hardest choices a president faces. He does it with steady, principled leadership.

He's a statesman, leading not just our country but the entire world. It was his vision, it was his vision and diplomacy that secured a historic global agreement on climate change, put a lid on Iran's nuclear program, opened up Cuba, and rallied the world to curb the spread of nuclear weapons. I saw him go toe-to-toe with the toughest foreign leaders, and to give the order to go after Osama bin Laden. This, my friends, is a president who knows how to keep us safe and strong.

Compare that to Donald Trump. Can you imagine him sitting in the Oval Office the next time America faces a crisis? The world hangs on every word our President says, and Donald Trump is simply unqualified and temperamentally unfit to be our President and Commander-in-Chief.

So here in North Carolina this election is our chance to say, "Our country is better than this." In America, we don't tear each other down, we lift each other up. We build bridges, not walls. We don't call the country we love a disaster or a laughing stock—we know America already is the greatest country on earth.

Just think about those early patriots who met in Philadelphia that hot summer of 1776. They knew we would all rise or fall together.

Nobody who looked like Barack Obama—or me—would have been included back then. But we're here today because the story of America is the story of hard-fought, hard-won progress. So, I want you to remember that for 240 years, our history has moved in that direction—slowly at times, but unmistakably. As the President has reminded us, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

So if you believe, along with me and the President, that our best days as a nation are still ahead of us, please, join us in this campaign. Take out your phone right now. Take out your phone and text JOIN to 47246. Or go to hillaryclinton.com. We are hiring organizers right here in North Carolina.

We're going to fight for every vote in this state, and with your help, we're going to win it. So, I don't know about you but we are fired up and ready to go. Ready to win this election.

Please join me in welcoming the president of the United States, Barack Obama.