Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential election to George W. Bush, revealed Tuesday evening that he has not ruled out a run for president in 2020.
“I’m thinking about how the hell to get out from under that question fast,” Kerry quipped when asked if he was considering a run during Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.
“I’m not taking anything off the table,” he emphasized. “I haven’t been running around to the most obvious states, laying any groundwork or doing anything.”
“Am I going to think about it? Yeah, I’m going to think about it,” he concluded.
Prior to the midterm elections In September, Kerry said that he wasn't thinking about a 2020 run.
"I'm really not thinking about it," he said. "Talking about 2020 right now is a total distraction and waste of time. What we need to do is focus on 2018."
President Trump mocked him about considering a presidential run in a tweet at the time.
I see that John Kerry, the father of the now terminated Iran deal, is thinking of running for President. I should only be so lucky - although the field that is currently assembling looks really good - FOR ME!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2018
Regarding the current field of potential Democratic 2020 presidential candidates, Kerry also said he’s not too impressed.
"I'm perfectly ready to embrace somebody that I think can win, or who wants to address all the issues that I just talked about and understands them,” he said. “But I'm going to be very candid here, and some people who are thinking about it aren't going to love me for it, but I'm not -- I don't see the person yet that I'm prepared to say that about."
He did have praise for former Vice President Joe Biden but said he wasn’t sure if he would run.
"I don't know if Joe's going to run, he's a great pal of mine, we've known each other 40 years,” he said. “He's clearly qualified, clearly great, he understands all these issues, and let's see what he decides to do."