Chelsea Clinton: 'We all need to be asking' Whether to Seek Public Office
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 4/4/2017, 10 a.m.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Though she's repeatedly attempted to quash rumors of a future run for public office, Chelsea Clinton again left the door open to a run on Tuesday.
"No. No, no, no," Clinton emphatically told CBS in a rare and extensive interview when asked whether she'd be the next member of her family to seek an elected position.
But she still qualified that answer, saying any engaged citizen with a clear vision and a clear sense that he or she is the best person for the job should consider it.
"I clearly don't agree with our president, but I'm definitely not the right person to run to defeat him in 2020," Clinton said.
"Right now, the answer is no, but I think we all need to be asking ourselves that question periodically," she said, adding that she hopes young people will see the 2016 election as a call to action.
The former first daughter has answered the question many times in many ways -- last week in a video interview with Variety, she also sought to end the public speculation.
"Hi, I'm Chelsea Clinton, and one thing you may not know about me is I am not running for public office. I mean, I just -- no," she said in the interview, exasperatedly clapping her hands together.
Months after Hillary Clinton's defeat, her daughter is "grateful" for the extra time with her mother, whom she says is "doing great."
"She's focused on her book, she's focused, thankfully, on her grandchildren, she's focused on what she can do to help support work she's been engaged in longer than I've been alive around children, around women, around families, and I just am really grateful to have more time with her now than I've had in a long time," Clinton told CBS.
She relayed a personal moment from weekend time together at her parents' home in Chappaqua, New York, in which daughter Charlotte, 2, declared she wanted to be a mermaid or a zookeeper when she grows up.
"My mom talked to Charlotte a lot about what it would mean to be a mermaid or a zookeeper," she said.
Clinton dismissed the idea that the former 2016 Democratic nominee has plans to seek public office again.
"I have no idea. I don't think so," she said.
In a St. Patrick's Day appearance in Scranton, Pennsylvania, last week, Hillary Clinton told the Society of Irish Women that she's "ready to come out of the woods."
"I think we're seeing what that means right now," Chelsea Clinton said Tuesday.
"She's clearly looking to encourage many, particularly the young people, who are thinking about running for office, that they should keep thinking about that and throw their hats into the ring," Clinton said. "She is trying to figure out what she can do to help support so many of the organizations you know, like Planned Parenthood, who are standing on the front lines to defend our fundamental rights, and I just am really grateful that she's out there doing that work."
Clinton, 37, has recently become a more active presence on Twitter, frequently posting commentary on social issues, news of the day and the Trump administration with a distinctive voice. She's currently on a book tour for the paperback edition of her young adult book, "It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!" She also has an Elizabeth Warren-inspired childrens book coming out next month titled, "She Persisted."
Asked if she had a message for her friend, first daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, who will also speak to CBS today, Clinton deflected.
"I hope her kids are doing well. I hope they're enjoying their new home in Washington," she said.
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