2020 Election

Sanders Says Likelihood of Another Presidential Run Is ‘Very, Very Slim’

Bernie Sanders this week said the odds of him launching a third presidential campaign are “very, very slim” after suspending his campaign last month.
Save
Sanders Says Likelihood of Another Presidential Run Is ‘Very, Very Slim’
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in Washington on March 15, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Katabella Roberts
5/12/2020
Updated:
5/12/2020

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) this week said the odds of him launching a third presidential campaign are “very, very slim” after suspending his current campaign last month and endorsing Joe Biden.

Speaking at a live-streamed Washington Post event on May 11, Sanders was asked whether he’d consider a third consecutive presidential run in 2024, but confirmed the chances of it happening are highly unlikely.

“I think the likelihood is very, very slim at that,” Sanders replied. “I think next time around you’re going to see another candidate carrying the progressive banner. I think it’s very, very unlikely that I’ll ever be running for president again.”

Sanders, who describes himself as a Democratic socialist, first ran for president in 2016. Despite entering the contest with far less recognition than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he gained a lot of support from young voters.

Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (L) and former Vice President Joe Biden, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 25, 2020. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)
Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (L) and former Vice President Joe Biden, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 25, 2020. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)
He had initially been the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in February 2020 after winning the New Hampshire primary and gaining a landslide victory in the Nevada caucuses, but after Biden won a series of sweeping victories, the senator announced that he was suspending his campaign and acknowledged that “the path toward victory is virtually impossible.”

At 78, Sanders was the oldest candidate running for the presidential nomination this cycle, and, if he had eventually run, would have been the oldest president ever elected.

Elsewhere during the interview on Monday, Sanders said he hopes Biden will look to the Congressional Progressive Caucus to staff key members of his cabinet, if he is elected.