In pitch to men, Obama says Clinton treated differently

[COLUMBUS, United States] US President Barack Obama hit the campaign stump for Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, telling voters not to be "bamboozled" by Donald Trump and making a specific pitch to wavering male voters.

Visiting the swing state of Ohio for the second time in a month, Mr Obama challenged male voters to consider whether they were being sexist in hesitating between Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton.

Mr Obama's anointed Democratic successor is the favourite to win the election, but Mr Trump appears to have closed in with just a week to go until polling day.

"I want every man out there to kinda look inside yourself," he said.

"If you are having problems with this stuff, how much of it is that we're just not used to it?"

"There is a reason we haven't had a woman president before," Mr Obama told a raucous crowd on Columbus, Ohio - a state he won in 2008 and 2012.

"I want you to think about it because she's so much better qualified than the other guy."

It was during the 2008 campaign that Mr Obama blocked Mrs Clinton's path to the presidency by winning the party primary.

Mr Obama will barnstorm swing states almost every day this week, visiting North Carolina on Wednesday and Florida on Thursday before going back to North Carolina.

The popular outgoing president has been deployed to firm up tepid support for Mrs Clinton among key demographic groups that sent him to the White House.

AFP