Jittery Democrats sought to put a lid on former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz after he said Sunday that he is “seriously considering” running for president in 2020 — as an independent.

“I am seriously thinking of running for president,” Mr. Schultz said on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” “I will run as a centrist independent, outside of the two-party system.”

Even before the interview aired, Democratic operatives were urging Mr. Schultz to reconsider, worried that the self-funded, socially liberal billionaire could siphon enough votes from the Democratic candidate to deliver the race to President Trump.

A self-described “lifelong Democrat,” Mr. Schultz is no Trump fan. He backed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 and blasted the president Sunday as “not qualified.”

Asked if he was worried about drawing votes from the Democratic ticket in 2020, Mr. Schultz replied, “I want to see the American people win.”

Democratic strategist Paul Begala predicted that a Schultz candidacy would all but guarantee four more years of Mr. Trump in the White House.

“I’m not saying he can’t run; I’m saying he shouldn’t unless he wants to re-elect Donald Trump. It’s simple arithmetic,” Mr. Begala said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro asked Mr. Schultz “to truly think about the negative impact that that might make.”

“I have a concern that if he did run, that essentially it would provide Donald Trump with his best hope of getting re-elected,” said Mr. Castro, who served as Housing and Urban Development secretary under President Obama.

He pointed to a poll showing that Mr. Trump had a ceiling of 42 percent, meaning that “his only hope — if things stayed the same, and that’s a big if — is essentially to get somebody else, a third party, to siphon off those votes.”

No independent has ever won the presidency, but Mr. Schultz said times have changed. He pointed to the ballooning number of unaffiliated voters.

“What we know, factually, is that over 40 percent of the electorate is either a registered independent or currently affiliates themselves as an independent,” Mr. Schultz said. “Because the American people are exhausted. Their trust has been broken. And they are looking for a better choice.”

The Washington State Democratic Party posted a petition Saturday urging Mr. Schultz not to run as an independent. “There is too much at stake to risk splitting the vote and giving Donald Trump another term.”

State party Chair Tina Podlodowski invited him to discuss his plans with her over coffee. “Just. Don’t,” she tweeted.

“This worst-case scenario keeps me up at night,” Ms. Podlodowski said. “I want to spend our resources fighting for Democrats up and down the ballot, not fending off Howard Schultz’s independent bid.”

WA Dems Chair @Tinapo: “This worst-case scenario keeps me up at night. I want to spend our resources fighting for Democrats up and down the ballot, not fending off @HowardSchultz’s independent bid.” https://t.co/sN3OgmxoTk — WA Democrats (@washdems) January 26, 2019

Is Howard Schultz thinking of running for president? Scott Pelley talks to the billionaire former CEO of Starbucks. 60 Minutes, Sunday. https://t.co/1sl16l5eI3 pic.twitter.com/fotSvYCFtm — 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) January 26, 2019

Of course, a Schultz candidacy could also appeal to Republicans. He has decried the $21.5 trillion national debt as the “greatest threat domestically to this country” and called “free health care for all,” as some Democrats have proposed, “as false as the [border] wall.”

“Bring me your ideas,” Mr. Schultz said. “And I will be an independent person who will embrace those ideas. Because I am not, in any way, in bed with a party.”

Mr. Schultz, 65, pegged his comments to the release of his memoir, “From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America,” with his cross-country book tour launching Monday in New York City, with stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Tempe, Arizona.

With an estimated $3.5 billion net worth, the Starbucks mogul has been viewed as a potential presidential contender since he stepped down as Starbucks executive chairman in June, capable of funding his own campaign without assistance from the major political parties.

Boosting his bottom line was Friday’s 3.6 percent rise in Starbucks shares, fueled by the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report showing better-than-expected sales and earnings growth.

Independent and third-party campaigns have been blamed for swinging at least two recent presidential elections, although some analyses show that the insurgent candidates pulled from both parties.

In 1992, Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot captured nearly 19 percent of the vote, a strong showing that was blamed by some for swinging the race for Democrat Bill Clinton over the Republican incumbent, George H.W. Bush.

In 2000, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader took just 2.74 percent of the vote but was accused of sinking Democrat Al Gore, who lost in a squeaker to Republican George W. Bush.

“We’re living at a most fragile time,” Mr. Schultz said, “not only the fact that this president is not qualified to be the president, but the fact that both parties are consistently not doing what’s necessary on behalf of the American people and are engaged, every single day, in revenge politics.”

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