At Hillary Clinton’s latest campaign stop in Oregon, the former first lady again refused to endorse any of the current Democrats running in the 2020 presidential primary, but she did highlight her experience with impeachment and essentially described herself as the ideal candidate to take on Trump in 2020.
Clinton and daughter Chelsea were at Portland’s Revolution Hall on Saturday to promote their new book about “gutsy women” when the moderator, local author Cheryl Strayed, brought up 2020, KGW8 reports.
“All that matters is that we win,” Clinton told Strayed. “I hate to be so, you know, simplistic about it. We have to nominate (cough) … the best …
“You!” someone shouted from the audience, drawing a big smile and laugh from Clinton.
She didn’t disavow the idea.
“Oh, my. Well, thank you,” Clinton said. “I just feel so strongly that, look, I just want to say a little bit more about this, because what’s going on now with the impeachment inquiry is not a choice it was an obligation under the Constitution.”
The 71-year-old twice failed presidential candidate explained that it’s a “big challenge” to run a presidential campaign amid the political chaos in Washington, D.C., then laid out her experience in such a “really complicated political environment.”
Clinton touted her involvement building the case for impeachment against former President Richard Nixon and lectured about the founding fathers including constitutional protections against a president “who would try to curry favor with foreign powers.” Clinton contends impeachment may eventually sway Republicans in the House against Trump, and “if enough vote against him” it could spark a Republican rebellion in the Senate, as well.
“I say all of that because it’s hard to know who’s going to be the best candidate to beat this president, assuming this president is still running,” she said. “I mean this is a really complicated political environment.”
There’s lots of great Democrats running for president, Clinton claimed, “but at the end of the day, there are a lot of forecasters who are saying, ‘look, if the economy stays in good shape and he’s not impeached, or he’s impeached but not convicted, it’s going to be very, very hard’ (to defeat Trump) because of all the advantages he will have on … suppression and everything else.”
The former secretary of state suggested Democrats “see who emerges” from the primary, but made it clear “we have to vet them … because believe me they make up stuff about you.”
Clinton just last week alleged Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a “Russian asset” planted to sabotage the party.
“You got to be in a position where the public and the press don’t fall for that again,” Clinton said, referring to fake news in the 2016 election. “So we need to vet our candidates by pushing them hard, that’s part of the process, so we see how people withstand what will be a brutal attack on them from the right, and the Russians and all their allies.
“So that’s what we should be looking for,” she said, concluding her backhanded self-promotion.