Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti said Tuesday that the winner of the Democratic presidential primary in 2020 is likely to be the candidate who fights most directly with President Donald Trump.
Former State Department press officer Morgan Ortagus said during a discussion on Fox News that Democrats will want an outsider, but Continetti said they are looking for a fighter.
"Rather than looking for an outsider, when I talk to democrats and when I look at the Democratic Party today, I think they want a fighter," Continetti said. "They want someone who will be able to take the fight to President Trump and stand up for the Democrats' values that they see being really challenged every day."
Continetti said such a fighter could come from the Senate or party establishment, or they could be an outsider. He argued the person who challenges Trump most vociferously will get support among the Democratic base, but that may be a problem for being elected.
"I think they are going to be looking for someone to really challenge President Trump in a way that can't be ignored," he said. "The problem is: Is that what middle America wants?"
Continetti dismissed the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidential run in 2020 after she said she would "like to be president" over the weekend.
Former Democratic National Committee spokesman Mo Elleithee said Clinton won’t run because "her time has passed," and Continetti concurred.
"I think that's representative of the Democrats' view of Hillary in 2020, that her time has passed. There’s such a large field developing, and there’s going to be so many different strains of the Democratic Party competing–some billionaires in the mix. Hillary's time, I think, is over," Continetti said.
Trump, however, encouraged Clinton to run during an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham and said he would enjoy running against any of the potential Democrats.
"You see that Trump confidence coming through," Continetti said. "His approval rating is on an upswing right now. So I think he is feeling he is in a strong position for reelection. A divided field, of course, may weaken or strengthen whoever emerges from it, you just don’t know. And so of course, Trump will be in the mix the entire time coming up with nicknames for all the 15 or so candidates and exploiting all those intraparty differences."