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For those who missed it, the Guardian’s Dan Roberts reported live from Charlotte, North Carolina, where President Barack Obama appeared on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton for the first time.

Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally with Hillary Clinton. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Nothing makes for a quicker getaway after a narrow brush with the law than Air Force One.



Hillary Clinton spent Tuesday morning in Washington being chastised by an unexpectedly stern director of the FBI, but a few hours later she was flying free – cleared at least of the threat of criminal charges and heading to her first campaign rally alongside the commander-in-chief, with only political storms on the horizon.

Their arrival in North Carolina was not without its awkward moments. Add together the standard presidential motorcade and the already long convoy of a presidential candidate, and you reach a cumbersome 28-vehicle snake that nearly tied itself in a knot drivingon the way out of the airport.

But by the time their shared limousine, nicknamed “the beast”, reached the Charlotte Convention Center, the former secretary of state was basking in the kind of unabashed praise that would have been impossible for Obama to deliver whilea possible indictment was still hanging over her.

“My faith in Hillary Clinton has always been rewarded,” said the president in a speech that was part campaign endorsement, part character testimony. “I have had a front row seat to her judgement,” he added, without a hint of irony.

It was hard to tell whether the beaming Clinton was happier about the compliments or that Obama never once mentioned an email scandal that the FBI had found to be worse than almost anyone imagined.