John Kerry, one of Joe Biden’s highest-profile endorsers was overheard Sunday on phone at Des Moines hotel by an NBC News analyst explaining what he would have to do to enter the presidential race amid “the possibility of Bernie Sanders taking down the Democratic Party— down whole.”
Asked about the call later on Sunday, the former Secretary of State said that he was “absolutely not” contemplating joining the Democratic primary race.
NBC News reported Sunday that Kerry was heard telling an unknown confidant on the phone at a Des Moines hotel about the steps he would need to take in order to enter the race, including stepping down from Bank of America’s board of directors.
Big-dollar donors loyal to Kerry would have to “raise a couple million” in order to get Kerry’s bid off the ground, he was reportedly heard saying, while adding that such donors were now facing “the reality of Bernie” and “the possibility of Bernie Sanders taking down the Democratic Party — down whole.”
However, Kerry’s plans to enter the primary are reportedly not definite, as he was also heard questioning the idea of entering the race at all, telling the caller “maybe I’m f—ing deluding myself here,” and later telling NBC News that he was “absolutely not” considering mounting a bid for president when asked about the call.
In a tweet Kerry sent Sunday afternoon he forcefully denied plans to enter the race, though he would later delete the statement and re-post it without the expletive.
“As I told the reporter, I am absolutely not running for President. Any report otherwise is f—ing (or categorically) false. I’ve been proud to campaign with my good friend Joe Biden, who is going to win the nomination, beat Trump, and make an outstanding president,” Kerry initially tweeted.
As I told the reporter, I am absolutely not running for President. Any report otherwise is categorically false. I’ve been proud to campaign with my good friend Joe Biden, who is going to win the nomination, beat Trump, and make an outstanding president.
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) February 2, 2020
Kerry has publicly endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden (D) in the Democratic primary, and has campaigned with Biden in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He previously ran for president in 2004, winning the Democratic primary but losing the general election to the incumbent President George W. Bush.
He told NBC News in January that he was focused on Biden’s path to the nomination, which has fallen into doubt in the minds of analysts in the face of Sanders’s surging poll numbers in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other key primary states.
“[R]ight now, [I’m] entirely focused on helping Joe Biden become president, and I’m very happy doing what I’m doing,” he said in January.
The Sanders campaign did not immediately return a request for comment on Kerry’s reported remarks.
