Stacey Abrams made a strong indication that she could be jumping into the 2020 Democratic primary race.

When the former Georgia House minority leader was asked if she was still considering launching a bid for president, Abrams told progressive political podcast, Pod Save America, “Yes.”

When the podcast tweeted out the excerpt of the interview, Abrams reposted it to her Twitter.

Abrams announced last month that she would not be seeking a Senate run in 2020 in challenging Republican Senator for Georgia David Perdue.

“I am announcing today that I will not be be a candidate for the U.S. Senate,” Abrams said in a video posted to Twitter April 30. “The fights to be waged require a deep commitment to the job, and I do not see the U.S. Senate as the best role for me in this battle for our nation’s future.”

Several Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have been pushing for Abrams to make a Senate run next year to flip a seat in Georgia, which has been Republican-controlled since 2003.

Since 2005 Georgia has had all Republican governors, U.S. House representatives and U.S. senators.

Schumer also tapped Abrams to deliver the Democrat rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this year. 

When Abrams announced she would not be running for a Senate seat to represent Georgia, it raised speculation that she could be preparing to mount a presidential run in a crowded field where 22 other Democrats are already running.

Abrams ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign against Brian Kemp in the 2018 midterm elections.

Even though Kemp beat Abrams by more than 50,000 votes and held 50.2 per cent of the vote – while Abrams earned 48.8 per cent – she claims she would have won had it have not been for ‘racist’ voter suppression laws.

Abrams had a lot of backing from Democratic lawmakers and celebrities in her run to become the first black female Governor in the U.S., including a strong endorsement from media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who also campaigned on Abrams behalf.

Earlier in April, the Georgia Democrats made it clear that she felt she could hold off on announcing whether she was running in 2020 until after Labor Day weekend 2019, or potentially even later.

‘I don’t think you actually have to make a decision about the White House before the fall,’ she told MSNBC on April 4.

If Abrams were to wait until then to launch her campaign for president, three Democratic presidential debates would have already taken place – one in June, July and a third in August.

The fourth debate is scheduled for September. 

‘I think it’s important that people are having these conversations now,’ Abrams said. ‘But I’m not going to make a decision driven by other peoples’ timelines.’

The first caucus, in Iowa, will be held at the beginning of February, which would be only four months after Abrams announces if she waits until September to make her bid. By September there could be even more than 22 Democrats running for president, as many have signaled they are considering entering the race to take on Trump in 2020.

Previously, Abrams name was floated as a potential running mate of former Vice President Joe Biden, who announced he was entering the race in late April.

On an interview with The View, Abrams dispelled the speculation and said, ‘You don’t run for second place’ – another indicator that she could be preparing to make a bid for the Democratic nomination.

“If I’m going to enter a primary, then I’m going to enter a primary,” she said told The View roundtable. “If I don’t enter a primary, my job is to make certain that the best Democrat becomes the nominee and whoever wins the primary, that we make sure that person gets elected in 2020. Running in a primary to be the vice president is very different than someone who has been selected by the party to be the nominee asking you to serve as a partner.”

Source: Daily Mail