Bill Clinton wants to talk to 2020 hopefuls. They don't want to listen.

Bill Clinton.
(Image credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images)

Former President Bill Clinton is still around if anyone wants to chat about the 2020 presidential election. But most Democratic primary hopefuls don't seem too interested in what he has to say, The Associated Press reports.

Clinton has sat down with a few male, long-shot candidates, such as Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Housing secretary Julián Castro, and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney. More prominent candidates, like Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (whom Clinton blames for hurting Hillary Clinton's chances in the 2016 general election), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have not sought his guidance.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

While Clinton's assessment proved correct in 2016, it is now his centrist approach toward winning those votes back that is unappealing to some Democratic strategists. "Times have changed," Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told AP. "The center of gravity within the Democratic Party and the electorate overall has moved massively in a more populist direction. Read more at The Associated Press.

Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.