Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, a close friend of the Clintons and former chair on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, said in an interview Wednesday:
“I don’t think Hillary has any interest in running again… I think [Bill Clinton] is probably going to go back, working on all the good deeds he’s done before in helping people around the globe.”
He followed this up by saying that he has yet to discuss a possible exit from politics with the Clintons, saying that he’ll let Hillary “speak for herself.” But he stated the obvious in saying that the loss in the election was incredibly draining on Hillary, who has remained out of the public eye except for a few sparse appearances recently.
McAuliffe Looks Forward To Trump
Meanwhile, other Democratic leaders are scrambling to save themselves and the party, which has now lost the White House as well as both chambers of Congress. Leading the charge in this free-for-all is… You guessed it, Gov. McAuliffe.
He has publicly stated his willingness to work with President-elect Donald Trump, despite supporting Hillary in the presidential election:
“I have known Donald Trump for 20 years, had dinner with him, golfed with him… I look forward to a productive relationship.”
McAuliffe also said that Trump wrote him a $25,000 check back in 2009 when he ran for governor. So I bet his support of Trump has absolutely nothing to do with that, or the fact that the Trump administration will be replacing the current FBI headquarters in D.C. with a new building in either Virginia or Maryland.
In fact, Gov. McAuliffe very convincingly stated this himself:
“I don’t think politics should come into play. I don’t think the governor there endorsed Mr. Trump. . . . At the end of the day, forget all that. We have the best numbers. If you want to save taxpayer money, put this facility in the commonwealth of Virginia. Let the numbers speak for themselves. Simple as that.”
Notice the casual mention of how Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, went against Trump in the election. Hogan actually announced publicly that he would not be voting for Trump, in the face of political pressure from the right.
How odd that Gov. McAuliffe would look to remind Trump of this while he’s vying for the new FBI headquarters to be placed in Virginia. But it’s important to remember: he doesn’t think politics should come into play.
I’m glad he’s a man of his word.
Due to his obvious two-faced political persona, it’s hard to tell if Gov. McAuliffe is right about Hillary Clinton being done with politics. The past year must have been incredibly difficult and exhausting for her, understandably so, but I hope she comes back into the fold and helps rebuild the Democratic Party. At this point, they’ll really need her help.
Watch the video below to see Gov. Terry McAuliffe discussing endorsing Hillary Clinton at the Democratic Party Convention:
Featured image credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr/CC-2.0
