John Kerry hints at 2020 run

It didn't work out so well the first time, but John Kerry might be preparing to challenge yet another incumbent Republican president in 2020.

The former secretary of state and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee recently spoke with Politico, and it certainly sounded like he's weighing a presidential run. In the interview, Kerry helpfully pointed out that he's only run (and lost) one time. “I've only done it once, unlike a lot of people who've been out there, and came pretty close," Kerry said, referencing his 286-251 electoral vote loss to President George W. Bush. When asked specifically if he's going to run in 2020, Kerry gave pretty much the answer you'd expect from a guy who is seriously considering it, saying he hasn't "eliminated anything in my life."

Kerry, who is campaigning for Democrats in the 2018 midterms, also told Politico that he's "engaged, man." Looking ahead to 2020, Kerry said it won't be "a year for total newness" because voters will want someone with experience, which very conveniently sounds a lot like a pitch for his own candidacy. As Politico points out, experience was precisely what Kerry campaigned on in the 2004 Democratic primaries. But Kerry also inadvertently reminded readers of one drawback of his candidacy: his long-windedness. He said of the Trump administration: "I'm convinced that there's a lot of fakery going on right now, in terms of what's being done versus what is said to be done."

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This interview comes after weeks of Kerry hinting at a possible 2020 run. The closest he's ever come to saying he won't challenge Trump in two years came early last month when he said he doubts he will run, per ABC News. But he certainly didn't say he won't, and earlier this week, he said in a radio interview that he "isn't ruling anything out." Trump himself is thrilled at these rumors of a Kerry 2020 bid, tweeting last month, "I should only be so lucky."