Donald Trump is "unqualified and temperamentally unfit" to be the next United States president, his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has said as she attacked the controversial presumptive Republican White House nominee during her and President Barack Obama's first joint campaign appearance.
"Donald Trump is simply unqualified and temperamentally unfit to be our president and commander-in-chief," Clinton, 68, said during a campaign rally in Charlotte in North Carolina on Tuesday.
With Obama joining her on the stage for the first time, Clinton described what a presidency is all about.
"In America we put common interest before self-interest. We stand together because we know we are stronger together. That is the kind of president Barack Obama has been. He has made difficult, even unpopular decisions for the good of our country," she said.
"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...," Clinton said.
"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," she said.
"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...," she asked the audience, who promptly responded with a huge "No" applause.
Clinton said her administration will 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," she said.
"We are 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 again," Clinton added.
"We are 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," Clinton said, adding that she is going to keep asking to see Donald Trump's tax returns.
"We are going to step up and respond to the way American families actually live and work in the 21st century. 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!" Clinton added.
IMAGE: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton hold a campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters