Barack Obama tells Hillary Clinton supporters in North Carolina 'I'm ready to pass the baton'

President Barack Obama knows how to energize a crowd and he did just that during his first campaign appearance with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Charlotte, North Carolina. The president made no mention of the FBI's decision not to press charges against the former secretary of state regarding her email server.

"Are you fired up? Are you ready to go?" Obama said to the crowd of over 7,000 people. "I'm fired up. Hillary's got me fired up."

He continued, "We're a young country so we like new things. I benefitted from that 'cause, lets face it, when I came on the scene in '08, everybody said, 'Well he's new.' And that means sometimes we take somebody who's been in the trenches and fought the good fight and been steady, for granted. That means that sometimes Hillary doesn't get the credit she deserves."

Obama, who soundly defeated Clinton in 2008, explained why he decided to make Clinton his secretary of state, Yahoo! News reported. "I saw again and again how, even when things didn't go her way, she just stands up straighter and comes back stronger," he said. "She just kept on going. She was the Energizer bunny. She just kept on."

The president called the former New York senator a "trooper" who overcame her loss to him eight years ago and became a loyal member of his administration. "I have run my last campaign," Obama said, according to NBC News. "And I couldn't be prouder of the things we have done together. But I'm ready to pass the baton. And I know Hillary Clinton is going to take it."

Without mentioning Clinton's Republican rival, Donald Trump, by name, Obama still managed to get a swipe in. "I know the other guy talks about making American great again. America's really great," he said. "This is a choice between whether we are going to cling to some imaginary past or whether we're going to reach for the future."

According to CNN, Clinton also discussed her failed campaign against 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 the President I was so proud to serve as secretary of state," Clinton said.

"I also know him as the friend that I was honoured to stand with in the good times and the hard times. Someone who has never forgotten where he came from," she added. "And Donald, if you're out there tweeting—it's Hawaii."

The joint appearance by the one-time rivals came hours after FBI Director James Comey announced the department would not be recommending charges over Clinton's use of a private email server for official State Department business. Neither Clinton nor Obama mentioned the ongoing scandal.