Clinton aide: Chances ‘highly unlikely’ but ‘not zero’ Hillary will run for president again

A top aide to Hillary Clinton says the former secretary of State has not ruled out a future bid for president, possibly including a 2020 rematch against President Trump.

Philippe Reines, who served as a senior adviser to Clinton at the State Department, tells Politico in an interview that he thinks it is “unlikely” that Clinton would mount a 2020 bid, but cautioned that it was not an impossibility.

“It’s somewhere between highly unlikely and zero,” he tells in the interview, “but it’s not zero.”

{mosads}Reines goes on to argue that Clinton remains a viable 2020 candidate due to her support base, pointing to the tens of millions of people who voted for her in the 2016 presidential election. Her support, he argues, remains higher than other potential Democratic contenders including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

“Chalking the loss up to her being a failed candidate is an oversimplification,” he tells Politico. “She is smarter than most, tougher than most, she could raise money easier than most, and it was an absolute fight to the death.”

“There’s no one in the Democratic Party who has anywhere near a base of 32 million people. That’s multiples of what a Sanders or a Warren have,” Reines adds.

Sanders and Warren have both been floated as leaders who could unite the warring wings of the party ahead of a possible 2020 challenge, and both senators have been reportedly making strategic moves in recent weeks that could be seen as preparation for a future bid.

A recent poll of Democrats’ views of top 2020 contenders showed Sanders in second place, ahead of Warren but trailing former Vice President Joe Biden. Clinton, who defeated Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary and won the popular vote in the general election, was not listed on the poll.

A former Clinton campaign strategist threw cold water on the likelihood of a 2020 bid for president from the former first lady earlier this year, calling the prospect a “pipe dream” in an interview with Hill TV.