NEW YORK — Speculation is mounting that former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is seeking to make a “comeback” and challenge Donald Trump a second time in the next U.S. presidential election of 2020. Rumors of another Clinton campaign in the works comes amid the former candidate’s recent uptick in public appearances and fund-raising appeals.
Clinton’s recent return to the public arena coincided with her efforts to challenge Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, particularly the scandal caused by separations of migrant families at the U.S. border. Even though Clinton has long advocated for building a border fence and similar “zero tolerance” immigration measures comparable to those of Trump, she used the outrage to launch her return to the public eye, raising more than $1.5 million for separated families.
Clinton has also used the recent resignation of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy as another rallying point, having announced a new partnership with group’s contesting Trump’s judicial nominees soon after Kennedy’s announcement. Her next scheduled public appearance will take place next weekend in New York’s central park during Ozy Fest.
Clinton’s attempts to again wield political power have been bolstered by media reports, such as a recent article from Michael Goodwin of the New York Post. Goodwin claims that “Hillary Clinton is up to something,” pointing not only to recent public appearances but the fact that her super PAC – Onward Together – has pushed former supporters for donations five times in just the last month alone. Goodwin is only the latest to speculate that Clinton has refused to give up hope of someday becoming president as reports over the past year have mused about whether Onward Together could act as her springboard into yet another major electoral contest.
While some reporters and past Clinton campaign staff seem to support the prospect of another Clinton run, many of Clinton’s former staffers outright reject the idea. Former Clinton campaign strategist Adrienne Elrod told the Hill that any Clinton ambitions for a 2020 run were little more than a “pipe dream,” asserting instead that “it’s time for new faces to come in.”
Furthermore, recent upsets of long-time Democratic figures by younger Bernie Sanders-aligned progressive candidates has been taken by many top Democratic Party figures as a sign that siding with the party’s younger, more progressive voters is key to winning future elections while continuing to support establishment figures, such as Clinton, would likely lead to the further decline of the party.
To outside observers, rumors of another Clinton campaign may come as a surprise, given that she – along with Trump – ranked as one of the most despised political candidates in U.S. history. However, Clinton’s difficulty in accepting blame for her defeat – blame which she has continued to deflect on unproven “Russian meddling,” James Comey, misogyny and a host of other factors – suggests that the woman who has come the closest to becoming an American president still feels that she is as electable as ever, despite popular sentiment to the contrary. Whether another embarrassing defeat for Clinton would be necessary to permanently dislodge her presidential ambitions is anyone’s guess.
Top Photo | Former Secretary of State and former Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during the New York state Democratic convention, May 23, 2018, in Hempstead, N.Y. Julie Jacobson | AP
Whitney Webb is a staff writer for MintPress News and a contributor to Ben Swann’s Truth in Media. Her work has appeared on Global Research, the Ron Paul Institute and 21st Century Wire, among others. She has also made radio and TV appearances on RT and Sputnik. She currently lives with her family in southern Chile.
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