Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro says he is seriously looking at running for president in 2020, and that the prospect of a crowded Democratic field will be `”cathartic” for the party.
“Part of the 2020 process is going to be, you’re probably going to have, you know, 15 to 20 people running at the beginning,” Castro said in a “CBS This Morning” interview Wednesday. “I view that as cathartic after what the Democratic Party went through in 2016. Getting all those folks up there, a lot of talented people, some who have many years of experience, others that are relatively new.”
“I think that we’re going to be in a stronger position to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 because of that,” he said in the CBS interview.
Castro, in a Rolling Stone interview published Tuesday, gave his first clear indication that he’s ready to take on President Trump in the next presidential election, saying that he’s “likely to do it.”
He reiterated that view on “CBS This Morning,” saying he is “seriously thinking about it.”
“I’m likely to do it,” he said, noting he has been “straightforward with folks” about his plans.
Castro declined to comment, when asked, about older and more established Democratic party leaders who may run. He said all potential candidates have strengths, while also noting that Texas Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke and Stacy Abrams are examples of Democratic politicians “that are speaking directly to what people are interested in.”
Castro, who was HUD secretary under former President Obama, hinted at a Latino voters summit in Texas last year that he “might” run in 2020 noting that the country needs a “very different president” than the one currently occupying the White House.
His twin brother Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro told CBS’ “The Takeout” podcast in July that he felt his brother, the “elder” (by one minute) Castro, would help bring new energy to the Democratic party.
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