Clinton 'absolutely ready' to be commander-in-chief: Michelle

October 28, 2016

Washington, Oct 28: Hillary Clinton is "absolutely ready" to be the US' commander-in-chief on day one as the Democratic presidential nominee and former secretary of state has more experience and exposure than any candidate "in our lifetime", First Lady Michelle Obama has said.

Michelle
During a rare joint appearance with Clinton at a North Carolinaelection rally on Thursday, Michelle contrasted Clinton's vision of a "powerful, vibrant and strong" nation with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's vision of "hopelessness and despair".

"I am out here first and foremost because we have never had a more qualified and prepared candidate for president than our friend Hillary Clinton. Never before in our lifetime. I say this everywhere I go," she said.

"I admire and respect Hillary. She has been a lawyer, a law professor, First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the US, a US Senator, secretary of state. She has more experience and exposure to the presidency than any candidate in our lifetime. Yes, more than Barack (Obama). More than Bill (Clinton). So she is absolutely ready to be commander-in-chief on day one. And yes, she happens to be a woman," Michelle said yesterday.

In the past few weeks, Michelle, 52, has emerged as a strong advocate of Clinton, 69, and has made several impressive speeches in some of the key battle ground states.

"It takes a level of generosity of spirit to do what Hillary has done in her career, in her life, for our family, for this nation. If people wonder, yes, Hillary Clinton is my friend. She has been a friend to mine and Barack, Malia, Sasha and Bill and Chelsea have been embracing and supportive from the very day my husband took the oath of office," she said.

The First Lady called this election unprecedented.

"I do not think we have ever had two candidates with such dramatically different visions of who we are and how we move forward as a nation.

"One candidate has a vision that is grounded in hopelessness and despair, a vision of a country that is weak and divided, where our communities are in chaos, our fellow citizens a threat. This candidate calls on us to turn against each other, to build walls, to be afraid," Michelle said without mentioning Trump, 70.

"And then there is Hillary's vision for this country that you just heard, a vision of a nation that is powerful and vibrant and strong, big enough to have a place for all of us, a nation where we each have something very special to contribute and where we are always stronger together.

"That is the choice we face between those who divide this country into us versus them and those who tell us to embrace our better angels and choose hope over fear," she said.

Michelle said this year's election is not about Republicans versus Democrats, but about something much bigger.

"We know the influence our president has on our children, how they turn on the TV and they see the most powerful role model in the world, someone who shows them how to treat others, how to deal with disappointment, whether to tell the truth," Michelle added.

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Agencies
November 22,2025

indiapak.jpg

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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