Earlier this week, writers of a Wall Street Journal op-ed resurrected interest in former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as a presidential candidate. Back in 2016, Clinton won the popular vote against former President Donald Trump but did not secure enough electoral college votes to win the election.
Since the op-ed was published, there has been a flood of responses, including unlikely ones from Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.
Since neither host appears to be a particular fan of Clinton, it might come as a surprise that both expressed some interest in seeing Clinton run again.
Though, to be fair, Carlson’s reaction to the op-ed was seasoned with considerable sarcasm.
“Typically, when you do something rash or stupid, you have to live with the consequences. It’s probably happened to you, one night, you’re listening to ‘Born to Run,’ after too many drinks. The next thing you know, you’ve got Bruce Springsteen’s face tattooed on your lower back. It's embarrassing. It's also permanent,” Carlson said in an analogy for the country’s recent past. “Think of Hillary Clinton of America’s national tattoo remover.”
“God bless that woman,” Carlson said of Clinton later, shortly before comparing her to “your emotionally volatile niece who goes to art school.”
Carlson then went on to share clips of Clinton, an Illinois native, speaking in a Southern-tinged accent as well as a montage of her laughing.
Douglas E. Schoen and Andrew Stein, writers of the Jan. 11 op-ed, floated the idea of Clinton running again due to current President Joe Biden’s low approval rating. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday showed that Biden’s rating had slipped to just 33 percent.
“Now, when Hillary Clinton, frankly one of the most unlikable people in the world seems like a better option, it's pretty bad,” Hannity said Wednesday. “So, you know, we will see if we get a rematch between Trump and Hillary. That would be interesting.”
According to Schoen and Stein, Clinton is in a good position to become the 2024 Democratic nominee in the wake of frustration with Biden and could even benefit if Democrats lose control of Congress this year.
In addition to Carlson and Hannity's comments, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the suggestion was embarrassing and Fox’s Laura Ingraham said Clinton should choose Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney as her running mate. Liberal Fox News contributor Richard Fowler called the idea “ridiculous.”
“It's kind of like the zombie apocalypse, right? She just keeps coming back from the dead,” former National Finance Chair for Senator Ted Cruz, Hal Lambert said while speaking with Audacy’s 97.1 FM Thursday. He thinks she arranged the piece to start up speculation.
So far, Clinton has not officially announced her intention to run. However, she did say last month that she expects Trump, her former opponent, to run again in 2024.
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