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McAuliffe Hints Again at Run for President in 2020: 'Let's Talk After I Get Out of Here'

November 12, 2017

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D.) continued to hint at a potential 2020 run for president on Sunday, telling MSNBC "let's talk" after his gubernatorial term concludes.

McAuliffe was interviewed by Al Sharpton in the wake of a successful election night for Democrats on Tuesday.

Democratic candidate Ralph Northam handily won the race to succeed him as governor. In addition to sweeps of the Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor races,  the party made what McAuliffe called "historic" gains in the Virginia House of Delegates.

After McAuliffe asserted voters in Virginia had shown they were rejecting President Donald Trump's agenda, Sharpton brought him up as a possible challenger to Trump in four years.

"Yes or no answer, because I'm out of time. You mention that Northam won, he's succeeding you," Sharpton said. "Will we see McAuliffe in 2020 on the list of possible Democratic candidates for president? Yes or no?"

"Reverend, I'm going to finish this job strong. Let's talk after I get out of here," McAuliffe said. "People are paying me to be governor, and that's what I'm doing."

"That was not a no," Sharpton said.

McAuliffe is a former chair of the Democratic National Committee and longtime friend of the Clintons. He has previously not denied he is thinking of running for president.

The potential 2020 field already looks crowded, with former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) among those rumored to be mulling a run.