Bernie Sanders Says He Hasn’t Ruled Out Running For President In 2020

During an interview on Sirius XM Progress, a left-leaning radio channel, Bernie Sanders revealed that he has not shut the door on running for president in 2020.

In the interview, which aired Thursday, July 13, Sanders told Make It Plain host Mark Thompson,

I'm not taking it [a run in 2020] off the table. I just have not made any decisions. And I think it's much too early.

The 75-year-old congressman then shifted focus to President Donald Trump. The focus, Sanders said, isn't on any potential run at the White House in the future. Rather, all attention is being devoted to counteracting president Trump's agenda.

Sanders said,

Our job right now is to not only fight against this disastrous health care proposal, it is to take on all of Trump's reactionary proposals. He is a representative of the billionaire class. He's at war against the working class. We've got to raise the minimum wage right now, we're working on that, to 15 bucks an hour. We have got to make public colleges and universities tuition-free. We've got to be aggressive on criminal justice reform.

On one hand, the response from Sanders is expected. After all, there's nothing for him to lose or gain by keeping his options open, for now. So, the fact that he hasn't verbally ruled out another go at the presidency isn't exactly surprising.

Still, the thought of Sanders running in 2020 is an interesting one, not least because of the historical implications such a run would have. If the Vermont senator were to be elected, he'd be celebrating a presidential victory at 79-years-old, making him the oldest person to be elected in U.S. history.

The same would go for Joe Biden, who would be 77-years-old if he were to win an election in 2020. And while it might seem unlikely that Sanders would actually follow through with another campaign, the senator nonetheless made sure not to shut down the possibility during his recent interview.

Sanders said,

It's just too early to be talking about an election three-and-a-half years from now.

We'll have to wait and see.