Steve Bannon Warns Not To Count Hillary Clinton Out of 2020: 'She Is Running'
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon made a bold prediction Monday night that there may still be a few horses waiting to jump in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Chief among them, Bannon told Fox Business’ “Primetime” host Trish Regan, is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“She is running,” Bannon said. “She’s just trying to decide how to fit her way in.”
A trusted campaign strategist to President Donald Trump during the 2016 election, Bannon told the outlet billionaire America businessman Michael Bloomberg is another potential late entrant, the Washington Examiner reported.
“They think they have a weak field and they’re — it’s like in chess — they’re prepared to sacrifice a rook to take down a king.”
Bannon says @HillaryClinton is trying to run for President again https://t.co/B6hI1Z61Zd
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 1, 2019
Figures like Clinton and Bloomberg, he said, have been biding their time — waiting for campaign trail woes or a sizable media event to shake up the Democratic field and allow for a strong late entry.
And the recently dredged up Ukraine scandal and an ensuing impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats last week may just have done the trick, potentially catching contested Democratic front-runner Joe Biden in the cross-hair.
“They think they have a weak field,” Bannon said. “It’s like in chess, they’re prepared to sacrifice a rook to take down a king.
“[The Democrats] will throw Biden away to get to Trump and hope Elizabeth [Warren] or I even think Hillary Clinton or Bloomberg or some centrist comes in here,” he added.
Steve Bannon says Hillary Clinton will enter the 2020 race: “She’s running, she’s just trying to decide how to fit her way in” https://t.co/gaMzFIelmR pic.twitter.com/XuG610Lia5
— Disrn (@DisrnNews) October 1, 2019
Clinton, now 71, has expressed little interest in another shot at the presidency, directly dismissing similar speculation in recent months on multiple networks, The Hill reported.
Clinton fell hard to fast-rising political upstarts after long, grueling campaign seasons in both 2008 and 2016.
History does not look kindly on failed nominees running once more. The last candidate to win the presidency after securing a major party nomination and losing was President Richard Nixon in 1968, according to The Washington Post.
According to The Hill, Bloomberg has also been dismissive of a potential 2020 presidential run, rejecting the idea outright on several occasions.
Bannon’s forecast, however, is in line with recent polling, which shows Biden losing his dramatic lead over the last month — even overtaken in some polls by progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
And recent shakeups do have strong potential to push Biden to the margins entirely, providing a strong entry point for those who may be late to the game.
A Monmouth University poll released Tuesday shows 42 percent of Americans believe Biden may have engaged in potentially illegal behavior with regard to Ukraine in his time as vice president, leaving the candidate vulnerable to further attacks in the weeks to come.
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