Hillary Clinton is not running for president in 2020. She said so herself during a March interview with a local New York City television station.
However, at least one New York Post writer and editor who saw Bill and Hillary Clinton kick off their national speaking tour Thursday night isn’t counting out the former first lady. Maureen Callahan believes that “you can never trust a Clinton,” and warned that the twice-failed presidential nominee may be waiting for “the so-called circular firing squad” to take out the Democratic front runners before she announces her intent to run.
“Never trust a Clinton”
Callahan was in attendance at Beacon Theater this week for a 90-minute “snoozefest” billed as “a one-of-a-kind conversation with two individuals who have helped shape our world … [and who offer] remarkable insight into where we go from here.”
From her third-row balcony seat, Callahan watched as host Paul Begala — a former Clinton aide — handed deferential, leading questions to the political power couple. “How did you raise such an amazing daughter?” was just one of Begala’s ingratiating “softball” questions.
The Clintons avoided the #MeToo controversy, refused to mention the current president by name, and generally abstained from discussing any current events, except for the recent arrest of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange.
But just when Callahan appeared ready to walk out of the event and demand a refund for her $210 cost of admission, a heckler interrupted to say what was on everyone’s mind. “Bill, this is boring!” he shouted. “Why don’t you talk about Jeffrey Epstein?”
Of course, Bill was not interested in discussing the billionaire pedophile, and he certainly didn’t want to talk about Epstein’s private jet, the “Lolita Express,” on which Mr. Clinton was a passenger no fewer than 26 times. But fortunately for the former president, his wife was present to bail him out, talking over the heckler by saying that the “important political conversations” they were having could be difficult, especially when interrupted by “agent provocateurs.”
Callahan was unimpressed. “[T]he event simply underscored why Hillary lost: Over-promise, under-deliver, avoid accountability, and expect the masses to nonetheless be satisfied,” she wrote.
Ego trip
However, the New York Post editor saved her most compelling observation for last. After noting that the Clinton interview resembled a convention speech, with Hall & Oates “You Make My Dreams Come True” — a campaign favorite during Hillary’s second presidential bid — blaring in the background, Callahan couldn’t help but ask: “Who is making whose dreams reality?”
“What about the possibility that Hillary, incredibly, still thinks she has a shot at 2020?” she continued. “Perhaps she’s hoping the so-called circular firing squad takes out every and any front-runner. Despite her recent declaration that she won’t be running for president again, as we well know — you can never trust a Clinton. She still thinks the election was stolen from her.”
As Callahan observed, the Clinton speaking tour is “as much about easy money as it is ego gratification.” As such, it is difficult to imagine Hillary keeping her ego in check long enough to stay away from the campaign trail.
Of course, this may be the real reason behind the nationwide lecture circuit; a mock campaign to keep Hillary from throwing her hat in the ring in 2020. If this is the case, Democrats have been spared a third disastrous Clinton campaign, and America should be grateful.
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