In a PEOPLE interview in 2017, asked if she was open to running for office again, Hillary Clinton said, "No. I plan on staying active in other ways"
Not that she was ever planning on it, but Hillary Clinton clarified again that she’s absolutely not running for president in 2020.
“I’m not running, but I’m going to keep on working and speaking and standing up for what I believe,” she told New York’s News 12 in an interview that aired Monday.
Though the network touted it as the first on-camera confirmation of her political plans, Clinton, 71, has made no secret of the fact that she was not planning on another bid for the White House.
In a PEOPLE interview in 2017, asked if she was open to running for office again, she said, “No. I plan on staying active in other ways.”
She echoed that to News 12 this week.
“I want to be sure that people understand I’m going to keep speaking out,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere. What’s at stake in our country, the kind of things that are happening right now are deeply troubling to me. And I’m also thinking hard about how do we start talking and listening to each other again? We’ve just gotten so polarized. We’ve gotten into really opposing camps unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my adult life.”
According to News 12, Clinton has met with multiple of the nominees for the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump.
“I’ve told every one of them [the candidates]: ‘Don’t take anything for granted, even though we have a long list of real problems and broken promises from this administration that need to be highlighted,’ ” Clinton told News 12. “People need to understand that in many cases, they were sold a bill of goods. We can’t take anything for granted. We have to work really, really hard to make our case to the American people, and I’m gonna do everything I can to help the Democrats win back the White House.”
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Clinton, a former first lady, senator and secretary of state, unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 2008 — losing to Barack Obama — and 2016, when she narrowly lost the Electoral College to Trump despite handily winning the popular vote.
She went on to launch Onward Together, a group to support anti-Trump efforts as well as better equip the next generation of progressive leaders.
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She also published a memoir, What Happened.
“Millions of people decided they just didn’t like me … it hurts,” she wrote.
But, she told PEOPLE in 2017, “I’ve never been one to sit around and mope. I’d rather stay busy. That’s what helps me most. And yes, Chardonnay helps too.”