New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he isn’t running for president in 2020.
“I am ruling it out. I ran for governor, I have a full plate, I have many projects. I’m going to be here doing the job of governor,” Cuomo told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer in a radio interview Tuesday. “I am governor of New York and I have a lot to do.”
Cuomo, whose name has been mentioned frequently as a potential Democratic challenger to President Trump, was re-elected earlier this month to his third term as governor.
Cuomo said in August that he planned on serving his full four-year term if re-elected in November, unless “God strikes me dead.” He said Tuesday that has not changed.
“I have my own expectation of the candidate of what the Democratic Party needs to win. I think you’ll see a viable candidate in the Democratic field. It’s not going to be enough to be anti-Trump. We need a candidate who brings credibility and experience to the job and can connect to the people who we lost … that the Democratic Party lost … working men and women of this country who went with Trump because of the void in the Democratic Party. I think that is going to materialize,” he said.
Cuomo added that the Democratic Party needs a nominee who can show voters they have experience and results in improving Americans’ lives.
Lehrer said Cuomo sounded like he was describing himself.
“So you’re not ruling it out?” Lehrer asked.
“No, I am ruling it out,” Cuomo responded.
[Also read: Beto O’Rourke says he’s open to a 2020 run now that he’s not a Senate candidate]
