Clinton says she is being urged by ‘many, many, many people’ to run in 2020
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday declined to rule out launching a future presidential campaign after her two failed bids, saying “many, many, many people” were pressuring her to enter the race.
“I, as I say, never, never, never say never,” the former secretary of State said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I will certainly tell you, I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about it.”
“But as of this moment, sitting here in this studio talking to you, that is absolutely not in my plans,” Clinton added.
Whereas in previous election cycles the field narrowed as the primaries approached, 2020 is different: Democrats continue to join, indicating an unsettled and broadening race less than three months before the Iowa caucuses and as polls reflect shifting support for top-tier candidates.
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York, filed for the Alabama primary a day before the deadline last week — possibly in preparation for a full-blown presidential bid. Former Gov. Deval Patrick Massachusetts has expressed interest in announcing his candidacy as early as this week.
Could Clinton be next?
Reporters have doggedly asked Clinton that question on nearly every media appearance she’s made promoting a book, “The Book of Gutsy Women,” which she wrote with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
She has alluded to the possibility multiple times, including in a Twitter exchange in which she quipped back at President Donald Trump, who had urged “Crooked Hillary” to enter the race to edge out “Uber Left” Elizabeth Warren.
“Don’t tempt me,” she responded. “Do your job.”
Clinton, who won the popular vote in 2016 but lost in the Electoral College, seemingly ruled out a 2020 bid in multiple interviews. If she does decide to be a late entrant to the race, she will have missed the deadline to be on the ballot in several states.
“I know, it’s way past time,” she said on Tuesday. “Look, I think all the time about what kind of president I would’ve been and what I would’ve done differently and what I think it would’ve meant to our country and our world. … Whoever wins next time is going to have a big task trying to fix everything that’s been broken.”
