Conservatives Are Convincing Themselves That Clinton Will Run Again
Even Donald Trump is getting into the act.
As Donald Trump’s Ukraine troubles mount and polls show him lagging behind the leading Democratic presidential contenders, the president and his allies are dreaming up a 2020 scenario in which they surely can’t lose.
Hillary Clinton, they’ve collectively wished, could very well launch another White House bid.
“I think that Crooked Hillary Clinton should enter the race to try and steal it away from Uber Left Elizabeth Warren,” Trump tweeted on Monday.
The idea that Clinton is about to run for the presidency again is largely without merit. Her staff has repeatedly denied she will do so, though she playfully told Trump on Tuesday not to “tempt” her. And yet, Trump isn’t the only one conjuring up images of a Clinton comeback.
The idea that Clinton would mount a third presidential bid has circulated for months among fringe right-wing activists. Now, as House Democrats move closer to impeaching Trump, more mainstream pro-Trump figures are picking up the same claim.
“Do not be surprised, my friends, if she decides to try again in 2020,” radio host Rush Limbaugh told his national audience on Sept. 27. “Do not be surprised.”
The phantom presidential campaign theory has also been picked up by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who said on Fox Business on Sept. 30 that “she is running.” And it’s been embraced over the past few days on Fox News, where hosts like Greg Gutfeld, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham have claimed Clinton could enter the race.
Ingraham told her audience on Monday that Clinton was rumored to be running.
“There are serious whispers about another Hillary Clinton run,” Ingraham said. “I’m not kidding. We should be so lucky.”
Ingraham didn’t expand on what “whispers” she was referring to. On Monday’s edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight, conservative columnist Mark Steyn claimed that Clinton was attacking Trump to set up her presidential campaign.
“She wants them to hand her the crown again,” Steyn said.
“I totally agree with you,” Carlson said.
Much of the right’s coverage of Clinton has focused on her recent book tour for The Book of Gutsy Women, which Clinton co-authored with her daughter Chelsea. While Clinton’s talk show appearances and media interviews are clearly part of her book rollout, pro-Trump personalities have seen Clinton’s increased visibility as the first step in a shadow presidential bid.
Fringier pro-Trump figures have long claimed that Clinton would launch yet another presidential bid. Pro-Trump blog The Gateway Pundit has frequently referenced “rumors” of a Clinton bid. Ben Garrison, a pro-Trump cartoonist whose own White House invite was rescinded in July over an anti-Semitic cartoon he drew, reposted a convoluted February cartoon on Monday imagining Clinton as a groundhog seeing her shadow, marked “2020.”
Hillary Clinton, they’ve collectively wished, could very well launch another White House bid.
“I think that Crooked Hillary Clinton should enter the race to try and steal it away from Uber Left Elizabeth Warren,” Trump tweeted on Monday.
The idea that Clinton is about to run for the presidency again is largely without merit. Her staff has repeatedly denied she will do so, though she playfully told Trump on Tuesday not to “tempt” her. And yet, Trump isn’t the only one conjuring up images of a Clinton comeback.
The idea that Clinton would mount a third presidential bid has circulated for months among fringe right-wing activists. Now, as House Democrats move closer to impeaching Trump, more mainstream pro-Trump figures are picking up the same claim.
“Do not be surprised, my friends, if she decides to try again in 2020,” radio host Rush Limbaugh told his national audience on Sept. 27. “Do not be surprised.”
The phantom presidential campaign theory has also been picked up by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who said on Fox Business on Sept. 30 that “she is running.” And it’s been embraced over the past few days on Fox News, where hosts like Greg Gutfeld, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham have claimed Clinton could enter the race.
Ingraham told her audience on Monday that Clinton was rumored to be running.
“There are serious whispers about another Hillary Clinton run,” Ingraham said. “I’m not kidding. We should be so lucky.”
Ingraham didn’t expand on what “whispers” she was referring to. On Monday’s edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight, conservative columnist Mark Steyn claimed that Clinton was attacking Trump to set up her presidential campaign.
“She wants them to hand her the crown again,” Steyn said.
“I totally agree with you,” Carlson said.
Much of the right’s coverage of Clinton has focused on her recent book tour for The Book of Gutsy Women, which Clinton co-authored with her daughter Chelsea. While Clinton’s talk show appearances and media interviews are clearly part of her book rollout, pro-Trump personalities have seen Clinton’s increased visibility as the first step in a shadow presidential bid.
Fringier pro-Trump figures have long claimed that Clinton would launch yet another presidential bid. Pro-Trump blog The Gateway Pundit has frequently referenced “rumors” of a Clinton bid. Ben Garrison, a pro-Trump cartoonist whose own White House invite was rescinded in July over an anti-Semitic cartoon he drew, reposted a convoluted February cartoon on Monday imagining Clinton as a groundhog seeing her shadow, marked “2020.”
