Bannon: Hillary Clinton ‘in the bullpen waiting’ to run for president

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon predicted Wednesday that Hillary Clinton was looking for a way to enter the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary.

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Bannon said that Clinton was “waiting” for the call from members of her party before launching a third bid for the presidency. His remarks come despite Clinton’s assurance earlier this month that she was not seeking another run for the White House in 2020.

“Secretary Clinton has said that she’s not running, but you know, she’s in the bullpen waiting for the call,” Bannon said.

{mosads}”I believe, if you go through the gauntlet this summer, you start the Democratic primary, by the fall of next year if there’s not a candidate that’s kind of breaking out of the pack and looks like they can take on Trump … because the No. 1 thing for the Democrats is not policy right now … the No. 1 thing for the Democrats is beating Donald Trump,” he continued.

“And they’re going to fall in line with whoever they think can beat Donald Trump,” Bannon added, before predicting that no Democrat would be successful in unseating the president in next year’s elections.

“I don’t see anyone in this field right now taking on Donald Trump,” he said.

Steve Bannon predicts possible 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden would peak the day he announced, adding that Hillary Clinton will be “in the bullpen waiting,” ready to run if there is not a candidate breaking out of the Democratic pack by autumn 2019 https://t.co/iKhnK39jm5 pic.twitter.com/hdK001CTrh

— CNN (@CNN) March 28, 2019

Clinton told a local news station earlier this month that she was not planning to run for president in 2020 while adding that she was not “going anywhere,” and would remain a vocal force on the left.

“I want to be sure that people understand I’m going to keep speaking out,” Clinton told News 12 Westchester. “I’m not going anywhere. What’s at stake in our country, the kinds of things that are happening right now are deeply troubling to me.”

“We’ve gotten not just polarized,” she added. “We’ve gotten into, really, opposing camps unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my adult life.”

Clinton has met with several Democrats in the crowded 2020 field, including Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.). Her old rival from the 2016 Democratic primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has already announced his own bid for the White House.