Duckworth doesn’t rule out running for president: ‘Maybe if it’s good for the country’

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D), who was on the short list to join President Biden as vice president on the Democratic ticket, is not ruling out a presidential bid of her own, she told USA Today.

“Maybe if it’s good for the country,” Duckworth said of a possible run for the White House.

“I think about growing up in Southeast Asia post-Vietnam; everybody wanted to be us. We had these ideals; we had these values, and you could achieve the American dream. I would want to try to get us back to them. We’re not there now,” Duckworth added.

Duckworth, in an interview with USA Today ahead of the release of her book “Every Day Is a Gift,” said not being chosen as Biden’s vice president was “a disappointment,” adding “I went all the way to the end. I had a 50-50 chance of being picked.”

Duckworth made headlines last week when she vowed, with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), to vote against Biden’s nominees, amid frustration over the lack of Asian American and Pacific Islander representation, and wider concerns regarding the cabinet.

Days later, however, both senators dropped their threats after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement that the White House would add a senior level Asian American Pacific Islander liaison who will “ensure the community’s voice is further represented and heard.”

During the wide-ranging interview with USA Today, Duckworth also discussed her experience during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. She said she was not afraid when the protesters breached the building, even when she was rushing down an underground walkway to barricade herself in her office.

“I knew I could take care of myself,” Duckworth said.

Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient who lost both of her legs after her helicopter was shot down, was first elected to Congress in 2012, after serving as the assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Obama administration.