Former Attorney General Eric Holder still won’t say definitively whether he’ll run for president in 2020.
He’s still being coy about it.
Holder has danced around with this question a few times, actually, and the most recent example took place Tuesday morning.
“[I]n 2020, you could do something to do be a part of the solution of the things you’ve been talking about,” the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capeheart said during a sit-down interview with the former AG. “Why do you feel at least a flicker in the belly to even think about running for president?”
Holder responded, “Well, because I care a great deal about this country. I’ve spent the vast majority of my professional life in public service. I think I’ve got ideas that I hope would resonate with the American people. I think I’ve got the guts to potentially do the things that I think the next president would have to do.”
“This is not a time to be half-stepping; this is a time to deal with a changing America. An America that will be wounded by the experience that we are presently going through. So, it is all of those things. It doesn’t mean that ultimately, I’m going to do it. I’m certainly going to be involved in what happens in 2020. But I care about this country. I care about the way in which people in this nation are treated. I care about the notion of fairness, of equality,” he added.
All this is to say he hasn’t completely ruled out the idea. It’s just that he’s not entirely sure about it, and that his wife isn’t convinced it’d be the best decision for their family.
But that’s not a “no!”
“I think this country is a great one, and we have a pretty consistent mark of progress. We’re a better nation now than we were 50 years ago,” Holder continued. “Dr. King said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, and it bends towards justice.’ But that only happens when people put their hand on that arc and pull it towards justice. And I want to do that, and the question is, what will be the manner in which I’ll do it?”
He added elsewhere in response to being asked whether it’d be a good idea to recycle Obama administration officials in 2020, “I don’t think we necessarily have to exit the stage at this point. But the test really is, does a particular individual have new views, new ideas? … I think the focus ought to be on ideas as opposed to birthdate.”
Holder is the first African-American attorney general in U.S. history. He is also the first attorney general to be held in both civil and criminal contempt.
