Congrats to John Kerry, Basically the One Guy Not Running for President
John Kerry was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004. Thankfully for those of us tasked with keeping track of such things, he has decided that once is enough, confirming to British TV network Sky News that he will not be running in 2020, the first breathing registered Democrat to not do so.
Kerry, who is in Ireland attending an environmental summit, told the outlet that he considered jumping into the race before former Vice President Joe Biden announced his candidacy in April. He had kind words to say about Biden, with whom he served while secretary of state in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet.
“I’m delighted he’s in the race as he and I are old friends,” Kerry told Sky News. “I’m hopeful that we’re going to wind up with a nominee who will resoundingly be able to help lead the country in a better direction.”
He added: “I’m not running; it’s not me, that’s for sure.”
Since leaving office in 2017, Kerry has periodically come back into the spotlight to talk about climate change and the environment. The event Kerry is in Ireland attending is the Our Ocean Wealth summit in Cork, where he’s giving the keynote address. In April, he was called to testify before Congress on the effects of climate change on national security, where he was party to perhaps the dumbest exchange ever with a sitting member of Congress—House Liberty Caucus member Rep. Thomas Massie.
In a separate interview with the Irish Times ahead of the summit, Kerry said “world leaders are not doing enough to protect oceans,” and called climate change “the biggest international security threat today because it’s existential.” Hard agree with that, but I suppose “We’re Gonna Die 2020″ probably wouldn’t poll too well.
Correction, 4:57 p.m. ET: The original version of this post referred to Massie as a member of the House Freedom Caucus. Massie is a member of the House Liberty Caucus, not the Freedom Caucus.