Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is telling people close to her that she will not rule out a third run at the White House in 2020.
CNN White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny made the unsurprising revelation during an airing of “Inside Politics” on the network.
Zeleny says he’s heard from multiple sources just this week that she’s still giving consideration to joining the Democrat field to challenge President Donald Trump.
He added that the indictment of longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, along with other legal troubles with the President’s associates, has given her reason to take another look.
“I’m told by three people that as recently as this week, she was telling people that look, given all this news from the indictments, particularly the Roger Stone indictment, she talked to several people, saying ‘look, I’m not closing the doors to this,'” Zeleny said.
.@jeffzeleny reports on Inside Politics: @HillaryClinton is telling associates she hasn’t closed the door on a 2020 bid
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) January 27, 2019
Zeleny stated that it’s just a thought and “does not mean that there’s a campaign-in-waiting, or a plan in the works.”
Let’s just put this one to bed immediately: She’s running. There’s almost assuredly a ‘campaign-in-waiting’ or a ‘plan in the works’ already.
She’d Like to Be President
There have been a few signs along the way that indicate Hillary will run once again.
Philippe Reines, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, made the assertion back in October that the two-time presidential election loser could be the Democrat Party’s best hope to defeat Trump.
Reines was asked if he thought Clinton would toss her pantsuit back in the ring. Specifically, he was asked what the chances were that she’d pull the trigger.
“It’s somewhere between highly unlikely and zero,” he said, “but it’s not zero.”
Shortly after that, Clinton told a crowd of adoring fans that she’d “like to be President.”
Hillary Clinton: “I’d like to be president.”
Clinton says she is not going to “think about” running until after midterms conclude. pic.twitter.com/INpPjUk7Lx
— Kyle Morris (@RealKyleMorris) October 28, 2018
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, prompted by the speculation, tweeted, “Christmas coming early this year?”
Still With Her?
Clinton would be joining a heavily populated field of hard-left zealots trying to take on Trump. Could she possibly stand out in such a field, when America has already heard her pitch for the White House two previous times?
“I think we have to at least leave our mind open to the possibility that she is still talking about it,” Zeleny said. “She wants to take on Trump. Could she win a Democratic primary to do it? I don’t know the answer to that.”
She can’t. Probably the only person on the planet looking forward to another Clinton candidacy is Donald Trump. He knows it’d be an easy victory if Democrat voters are forced to swallow the establishment candidate yet again.
I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, “I hope so!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2017
Clinton is one of the few politicians who has consistently maintained lower favorability numbers than Trump, even watching those numbers decline as time has marched on.
Reports even surfaced during the midterms that showed some Democrats still viewed her as a political liability, referring to her support as “the kiss of death.”
Running for the highest office once more would be the ‘kiss of death’ for the Democrat Party, virtually assuring Trump of a second term.
