Former Hillary Clinton Strategist Mark Penn Says She Shouldn’t Run in 2024

Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and twice-failed presidential candidate, should not seek the White House in 2024, says Mark Penn, who served as a top strategist to Clinton in her 2008 presidential campaign.

“I don’t think the country wants to go back to candidates who have run before, whether that is Hillary, Biden or Trump. Clinton’s national ratings are below Trump’s at this point,” Penn said in a statement to Fox News.

Buzz around a possible third White House by Clinton has grown in recent weeks as President Joe Biden is struggling to tackle multiple crises, including soaring inflation, illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Whispers regarding a possible Clinton bid have also been buoyed by concerns about Biden’s age. The president would be 81-years-old on Election Day in 2024.

“The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,” David Axelrod, who served as chief strategist for former President Obama’s two White House campaigns, said in an interview with the New York Times.

“He looks his age and isn’t as agile in front of a camera as he once was, and this has fed a narrative about competence that isn’t rooted in reality,” he added.

Meanwhile, Clinton told CBS’s Mornings on Tuesday that while she missed the “day-to-day of politics,” she could not “imagine” mounting a bid for the highest office in the land in 2024.

“What I can imagine is staying as active and outspoken as I can because I think … our country is really on the precipice, Gayle,” Clinton said. “I think that we are looking at not only the erosion of these rights — the throwing the door open to unfettered, unregulated gun access — but we’re also looking at dismantling the federal government, how it protects our air and our water and everything else that goes along with it.”