Former Secretary of State and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry momentarily tweeted late Sunday that the notion of him making a last-second jump into the 2020 Democratic field was “fucking false” before deleting it.

The tweet came after an NBC News report said he was overheard in Iowa talking about joining the 2020 race to try and stop “the possibility of Bernie Sanders taking down the Democratic Party–down whole.”

When contacted by the news outlet, Kerry said he was “absolutely not” thinking about joining the 2020 race.

Kerry’s remarks, as reported by NBC News, come as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has made waves in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and could be on the verge of winning the Iowa caucuses. That victory that could give him momentum to overtake other rivals including more establishment Democrats like former Vice President Joe Biden, who Kerry has enthusiastically endorsed.

Trying to push back against the story, Kerry briefly tweeted out the following:

“As I told the reporter, I am absolutely not running for President. Any report otherwise is fucking (or categorically) false. I’ve been proud to campaign with my good friend Joe Biden, who is going to win the nomination, beat Trump, and make an outstanding president.”

The expletive was soon replaced.

John Kerry apparently reconsidered his language. pic.twitter.com/ftXsjYJU9i — Matt Viser (@mviser) February 2, 2020

“As I told the reporter, I am absolutely not running for President. Any report otherwise is categorically false. I’ve been proud to campaign with my good friend Joe Biden, who is going to win the nomination, beat Trump, and make an outstanding president,” Kerry eventually tweeted.

As I told the reporter, I am absolutely not running for President. Any report otherwise is categorically false. I’ve been proud to campaign with my good friend Joe Biden, who is going to win the nomination, beat Trump, and make an outstanding president. — John Kerry (@JohnKerry) February 2, 2020

The nervousness from more establishment Democrats about a possible Sanders nomination has bubbled up to the surface in recent weeks.

2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took a shot at Sanders last month when it was reported that she says in an upcoming documentary that the Vermont senator “got nothing done” and that “nobody wants to work with him” in Congress.

Meanwhile, Politico reported over the weekend that Democratic National Committee members have discussed changing the rules for the party’s nomination at its convention to try and weaken Sanders’ potential win.

The NBC report about Kerry’s remarks highlights another sign the establishment wing of the party is concerned about Sanders possibly winning the nomination.

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