The former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Has Not Ruled Out a 2020 Run

January 27, 2019
| Report Focus News
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates' debate in Flint, Michigan, March 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo

As Democratic candidates announce their intent to run against President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, none yet has really been a surprise. But, according to CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, one unexpected contender may still enter the race:

Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, reportedly has yet to rule out running for the Oval Office again in 2020.

CNN White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny said Sunday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that Clinton told people “as recently as this week” that she isn’t “closing the doors to the idea of running in 2020.”

“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.

“It does not mean that there’s a campaign-in-waiting, or a plan in the works,” he continued.

The former secretary of State has previously not ruled out another presidential bid, saying last October that she would “like to be president.” Zeleny added that Clinton believes running “could be a possibility,” given that she won the popular vote over President Trump in 2016 and that several former Trump associates have been indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in that election.

Most recently, Trump’s longtime adviser, Roger Stone, was indicted Friday on seven counts as part of that investigation.

“Most losing presidential candidates never totally close the doors to running for president, something that’s really hard to do. So I put this in the category,” Zeleny said.

“But I think we have to at least leave our mind open to the possibility that she is still talking about it,” he added. “She wants to take on Trump. Could she win a Democratic primary to do it? I don’t know the answer to that.”

“Clinton is telling people that she’s not closing the doors to the idea of running in 2020,” Zeleny said on Inside Politics. “I’m told by three people that as recently as this week, she was telling people that, 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.’”

Stone was indicted Friday for, among other things, communicating with Wikileaks at the direction of a senior Trump campaign official. Wikileaks, of course, was the organization that made public a cache of emails hacked from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Zeleny, a White House correspondent, was careful to clarify that this news “does not mean that there’s a campaign-in-waiting, or a plan in the works.” But, Clinton is considering it.

“Most losing presidential candidates never totally close the doors to running for president [again],” Zeleny said. “But I think we have to at least leave our mind open to the possibility that she is still talking about it. She wants to take on Trump. Could she win a Democratic primary to do it? I don’t know the answer to that.”

To win a primary, Clinton would face opponents on her left—and not just Bernie Sanders. She will also be up against other female candidates like Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, whom Clinton has reportedly met with recently, presumably as they courted Clinton for her endorsement.