Bernie Sanders says chances are ‘very, very slim’ that he runs for president again

By Jason Hopkins

Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders all but shot down the possibility that he will run for the White House again, suggesting that another politician will take his place as the progressive choice.

Speaking Monday at a Washington Post Live event on Monday, Sanders spoke about the 2020 presidential election and his support for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The self-described democratic socialist also appeared to put a cap on any future political ambitions.

WIkimedia Commons/AFGE

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

“I think the likelihood is very very slim at that. I think next time around you’re going to see another candidate carrying the progressive banner,” Sanders said Monday when directly asked if he wants to run for president again.

When the host pointed out that Sanders did not “fully close the door” on the idea, the lawmaker repeated that the chances are near zero.

“I think it’s very, very unlikely that I’ll ever be running for president ever again,” the 78-year-old said, and added that progressives need to focus on defeating President Donald Trump.

The comments come after Sanders ended his second run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both times the progressive candidate was able to muster up enough support to win a cluster of states, making him a formidable challenger and a nuisance to Democratic Party establishment figures who feared about his electability were he to win the nomination and compete in a general election.

A U.S. senator from Vermont since 2007, Sanders first ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016. Despite entering the contest with far less name recognition than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sanders dropped out after winning 22 state contests, giving him more than 1,800 in pledged delegates and the former First Lady a run for her money.

In the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Sanders began as the frontrunner — coming to a near draw in the Iowa caucus, and then outright winning the New Hampshire and Nevada contests. However, his campaign quickly fell after the Democratic Party coalesced around Biden.

Sanders has since endorsed Biden, and says he will actively work to help the former vice president defeat Trump in the November 2020 elections.

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Images courtesy of Phil Roeder/Flickr and WIkimedia Commons/AFGE

4 thoughts on “Bernie Sanders says chances are ‘very, very slim’ that he runs for president again

  1. Given Bernie’s age and his underlying health condition, is anyone surprised. Like him or hate him, one has to give him credit as he ran two honest races. He told us exactly where he was coming from like it or not. In past and probably future election cycles, we’ll hear all the pie in the sky promises to get elected. Once in office a severe case of amnesia sets in. Go no further than Vermont. The Dem/Progs made all kinds of promises about fiscal responsibility. Once elected, the burning issues became same sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana. Incidentally, I had occasion to contact our represitives in Washington on an issue important to me. I emailed their offices. Within 24 hours, I received a phone call from Bernie’s office to discuss the matter. About 4 days later, received a canned response from Leahy with the promise of a follow up. That was over a week ago, still waiting but fortunately, I’m not holding my breath. As for our Peter Welch, hello, is anybody home??? Guess he’s too busy tending to important matters whatever they may be. Interesting.

  2. Well, this is the best news to come out of Socialist Sander’s mouth in years,
    it would have been even better, if he stated he would never ever run again !!

    • It should be illegal for him to run as democrat, more so when he drops it after win and declares he is an independent. That would be fraud and election tampering. It’s amazing how people will not give up power, they’ll go to their graves in office.

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