It’s a decision that everyone saw coming.
Hillary Clinton (Bovada: +5000 | 1.96%) officially confirmed what has been unofficially known for months on Monday, saying that she is not running for president again in 2020.
“I’m not running,” Clinton said in an interview with News 12, a New York City television station. “But I’m going to keep on working and speaking and standing up for what I believe.”
With the decision, Clinton will not be joining the long list of Democrat candidates challenging President Donald Trump (Bovada: +200 | 33.33%) for the White House in 2020.
Over the past several months, several of the current and potential Democratic presidential candidates met with Clinton privately and sought advice from her — signaling for the first time that she would likely not be running for president again.
Some of the candidates who’ve met with Clinton include Sen. Kamala Harris (Bovada: +550 | 15.38%), the current favorite among the Democrats who’ve announced their presidential bid, and former Vice President Joe Biden (Bovada: +900 | 10%), who has yet to officially announce his decision on whether to run in 2020.
In the interview, Clinton said she will be taking an active role for the party in 2020 and revealed what she’s told all the candidates who’ve sought counsel with her.
“I’ve told every one of them, don’t take anything for granted, even though we have a long list of real problems and broken promises from this administration that need to be highlighted,” Clinton said. “People need to understand that in many cases, they were sold a bill of goods. We can’t take anything for granted. We have to work really, really hard to make our case to the American people, and I’m gonna do everything I can to help the Democrats win back the White House.”
The former first lady previously had served as both the secretary of state in the Obama administration and as a U.S. Senator from New York.
Clinton won the Democratic primary in 2016, becoming the first woman to win the presidential nomination for a major political party, and was heavily favored to win against Republican nominee Donald Trump heading into the 2016 Presidential Election.
Prior to the first ballots being counted on the election night of November 8, 2016, Clinton’s odds of winning the White House rose to as high as -900 (an implied probability of 90.01%).
However, those odds fell over the course of the night once Trump began picking up several key victories in swing states, which would catapult him over the minimum of 270 votes required from the Electoral College — officially electing him as the 45th President of the United States.
Even though Clinton said she is officially not running for president in 2020, she said during the interview that she will maintain a strong presence in politics.
“I want to be sure that people understand I’m going to keep speaking out,” Clinton said during her interview. “I’m not going anywhere. What’s at stake in our country, the kind of things that are happening right now are deeply troubling to me. And I’m also thinking hard about how do we start talking and listening to each other again? We’ve just gotten so polarized. We’ve gotten into really opposing camps unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my adult life.”
When asked if she is planning to run for any other political office in the future — such as New York governor or mayor — Clinton laughed off the idea.
“I don’t think so, but I love living in New York and I’m so grateful that I had the chance to be a senator for eight years and to work with people across our state,” Clinton said. “I care deeply about the future of New York and so, again, I’m gonna do what I can to help support candidates and causes that I think are continuing to make New York a better and better place.”
As far as how she currently spends her time after more than a quarter-century in politics, Clinton said she enjoys her peaceful life in the suburbs of Westchester County as an author, advocate, and grandmother of two grandchildren with another one coming this summer.
“It’s a different life certainly than what I thought I would be doing,” Clinton said. “But it’s very, very full and satisfying one for me.”