(CNN) There are few staffers who have been with Hillary Clinton as long -- or are as fiercely loyal to her -- as Philippe Reines.

Which is why Reines' appearance on Tucker Carlson's(!) show on Fox News Wednesday night to keep the door open to a late entry by Clinton into the 2020 race(!) caught my eye.

"She ran for president because she thought she would be the best president. If she still thought that now, if she thought she had the best odds of beating Donald Trump, I think she would think about it long and hard....

''This is a huge if. But if she were jump in for whatever reason, and the party has moved someplace that she hasn't, then she won't get the votes. That's the point of the primary. There are still 19 people. There are a few that are in double digits. If she were to run, and people [say] she's too left, too right, too center, that's the beauty of it. They get to vote against whatever they want....

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