Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that she is “watching and hoping” the Democrats nominate the strongest candidate to take on President Donald Trump, but stood by her view that nobody likes working with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
As Super Tuesday’s primary elections got underway, Clinton was asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” if she plans to follow the example of some of her Democratic colleagues and endorse one of the remaining candidates in the race.
“Only 4 or 5 percent of the people whose views are going to be voted on have actually had a chance to express themselves so there’s a long way to go,” Clinton responded.
“Today obviously is a big day,” she added. “So I’m just watching and hoping that we nominate whoever is the strongest candidate to take out the current incumbent. That’s the only thing that really matters at the end of the day.”
Clinton’s appearance came in advance of the release of a four-part documentary series about her life titled “Hillary,” which premieres on Hulu later this week.
In it, ABC News reported, the former first lady criticizes Sanders, who she vied with for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
“He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done,” Clinton said in the documentary. “He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”
Asked on GMA if she still holds that view, Clinton affirmed she does.
“That was my authentic opinion then,” she replied. “It’s my authentic opinion now.”
There was consistent speculation leading into the 2020 primary election season whether Clinton would throw her hat into the ring.
She conceded in a fall 2018 interview that she would still “like to be president.”
Clinton top aide Philippe Reines told Politico at the time her chances of running are “not zero.”
“It’s curious why Hillary Clinton’s name isn’t in the mix — either conversationally or in formal polling — as a 2020 candidate,” Reines said.
“She’s younger than Donald Trump by a year,” he noted. “She’s younger than Joe Biden by four years. Is it that she’s run before? This would be Bernie Sanders’ second time, and Biden’s third time. Is it lack of support? She had 65 million people vote for her.”
When asked last month by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres if she would be willing to be a running mate on the Democratic ticket, Clinton did not entirely close the door.
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” the 72-year-old answered.
“But no, probably no.”
“I never say never because I do believe in serving my country, but it’s not going to happen,” she added.
It is not clear whether Sanders or any of his Democratic rivals will win the needed 1,991 delegates needed to secure the nomination, which would mean a brokered convention.
If Clinton still has the presidential bug, she could potentially put her name in the mix to become the 2020 Democratic nominee.
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