Sanders says another presidential run is ‘very, very unlikely’

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) said Monday that it is “very, very unlikely” that he will ever run for president again.

Speaking at a Washington Post Live event, Sanders was asked whether he’d consider a third consecutive presidential run in 2024.

“I think the likelihood is very, very slim at that,” said Sanders, who will turn 79 later this year.

“I think next time around you’ll see another progressive carrying the banner,” he added. “I think it’s very, very unlikely that I’ll ever be running for president again.”

The Vermont senator built a progressive movement that rose to prominence in 2016, when he fell short to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sanders ran again in a crowded field of contenders in 2020, briefly emerging as the front-runner on the strength of an energized base of young voters and an unmatched small-dollar fundraising network.

But after Sanders won the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucuses, the Democratic Party rallied behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who ran off a string of dominant victories in South Carolina and across the map on Super Tuesday.

After being criticized for not doing enough to support Clinton’s presidential bid, Sanders backed Biden early and is encouraging his supporters to help him defeat President Trump in November.

The Biden and Sanders campaigns are putting together policy working groups with the aim of ensuring that progressives are represented in the Biden campaign and potential future administration.

Sanders said Monday he hopes Biden will look to the Congressional Progressive Caucus to staff key members of his Cabinet, if he’s elected.

“I hope very much that Joe will take a hard look at some of the leading progressives in this country … what you need to bring into the Cabinet is not only people who have the progressive ideology, but people who have the experience of interacting with working class people who understand that now is the time to tell the billionaire class and 1 percent that this economy is going to change,” Sanders said.