US presidential race: Clinton refuses to rule out another tilt against Trump

The former presidential contender gives her strongest hint yet she’s considering a late entry.

Hillary Clinton, left, has not ruled out another run against Donald Trump, right.

Hillary Clinton says she is being heavily pressured to enter the US presidential race and has refused to rule it out.

Although the former secretary of state said such a move was still “not in my plans” her comments are the strongest sign yet that she may be considering a late entry into the 2020 race.

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Mrs Clinton said that “many, many, many people” were pressuring her to enter the race. “I, as I say, never, never, never say never,” the 72-year-old told BBC radio.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton debates Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in 2016 in St Louis, Missouri.

“I will certainly tell you, I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about it.

“But as of this moment, sitting here in this studio talking to you, that is absolutely not in my plans.’’

Mrs Clinton has reportedly been seriously considering her ­options to enter the race at a time when the field of Democrat contenders for the party’s nomination looks weak, without a dominant frontrunner.

“I know, it’s way past time,” she told the BBC. “Look, I think all the time about what kind of president I would’ve been and what I would’ve done differently and what I think it would’ve meant to our country and our world. Whoever wins next time is going to have a big task trying to fix everything that’s been broken.”

Joe Biden, left, and Michael Bloomberg, right.

Mrs Clinton’s entry into the race would up-end the Democrat contest and she would likely become the instant frontrunner. However, she would almost certainly miss the deadline for registering in some of the early voting states for the primaries next February, meaning she would have to stage her run without competing in all states.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg last week made preparations to enter the race, apparently sensing an opportunity in a weak field. And former Massachusetts governor Patrick Deval has also said he may run against the 17 declared Democrat candidates left.

Ms Clinton has failed in her two bids for president when she lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008 and then lost the presidential election to Donald Trump in 2016 despite winning a majority of votes.

She has previously said she would never run again and Democrat polling consistently shows her to be a polarising figure who is deeply unpopular with conservative voters.

But the current Democrat frontrunner, 76-year-old former vice-president Joe Biden, has stagnated in opinion polls and has so far run an uninspiring campaign.

The second and third most popular candidates, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, are running on a left-wing big-spending populist platform that Mrs Clinton and other moderate Democrats oppose, fearing that such a candidate will be defeated by Mr Trump.

Ms Clinton’s comments came as a new poll in Iowa put Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg in the lead in that key state that votes first in the Democrat caucus on February 3.

The 37-year-old Mr Buttigieg, the mayor of the small town of South Bend, has seen his poll numbers soar in Iowa in recent weeks as his moderate message and youth attracts disaffected Democrat voters.

A Monmouth University poll released on Wednesday, Australian time, found support for Mr Buttigieg, an gay war veteran and Rhodes scholar, jumping to 22 per cent, ahead of Mr Biden on 19 per cent, Senator Warren on 18 per cent and Senator Sanders at 13 per cent. Mr Bloomberg, who was added to the poll on the second day of a five-day polling, scored less than 1 per cent, underlining the challenge he faces in joining the frontrunners.

“Officially filed in Arkansas to be on the ballot for the Democratic primary,” the former New York mayor tweeted along with a photograph of himself submitting the paperwork — four days after doing the same in Alabama.

His appearance to sign his ballot papers in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a strong public signal that the centrist tycoon will run.

“We must defeat Trump. He has failed us at every turn,’’ Mr Bloombreg said.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia