According to a rumor making the rounds in the conservative blogosphere, Hillary Clinton is considering running once again for the White House in 2020 despite having lost to the Republican presidential candidate at the 2016 general election and then-Senator Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

The rumor originated from a tweet by Ron Fournier, a former senior political columnist at National Journal and long-time member of the White House press corps, who has covered the Clintons for years.

Fournier claimed in a tweet to followers on Monday, November 28, that Clinton’s decision to challenge the legitimacy of the 2016 general election results by participating in the effort by Green Party candidate Jill Stein to recount votes in swing states Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, was part of moves designed to “keep her options open” with regard to a possible decision to run for president in 2020.

“Raising doubts about legitimacy of election, even w/out overturning result, is part of Clinton’s plans to keep her options open for 2020,” Fournier tweeted to nonplussed followers early on November 28, 2016.

Raising doubts about legitimacy of election, even w/out overturning result, is part of Clinton's plans to keep her options open for 2020 — Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) November 28, 2016

@ron_fournier i don't think clinton has any desire or plan to ever run for anything again. — Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 28, 2016

@matthewjdowd people close to her disagree. Perhaps they're projecting. — Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) November 28, 2016

@ron_fournier @matthewjdowd Cite your evidence for saying this. I've neither heard nor read anything of the sort. — Ryan Gregory ???????? (@that76spirit) November 28, 2016

IS Hillary Clinton considering running for president once again in 2020? [Image by Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock]

The tweet sparked a flurry of incredulous responses and queries about the source of the information on Twitter. It also sparked intense speculation on blogs and a debate whether Fournier’s tweet should be taken seriously.

Many dismissed it as rumor-mongering.

But Fournier responded to questions about the source and veracity of the information, saying that people “close to Clinton” told him.

“@that76spirit @matthewjdowd sources close to her. You read it here first,” Fournier tweeted, apparently enjoying the attention.

@that76spirit @matthewjdowd sources close to her. You read it here first. — Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) November 28, 2016

@ron_fournier @that76spirit don't think we should take things staff say as real when they want to maintain relevance. — Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 28, 2016

@ron_fournier @that76spirit @matthewjdowd



Weekend at Bernies II?



Jurassic Granny?

You really think her foreign "donors" will fall for it? — Republicanvet (@Republicanvet91) November 29, 2016

The suggestion that Clinton might be considering running once again for president in 2020 was met with incredulity because of the consensus that her unexpected loss to Trump in the 2016 general election signaled the end of Clinton’s political career.

But others, such as RedState’s Strieff, defended Fournier’s journalistic integrity.

“Fournier is not Alex Jones, he isn’t prone to flights of fancy and he isn’t about to burn down a reputation built over the course of a lifetime to get a little buzz on Twitter.”

Strieff went on to argue that despite sounding incredible, a third Clinton run was plausible because of the “craven opportunism” of the Clintons.

“You can never go wrong by betting on Bill or Hillary Clinton to engage in craven opportunism,” Strieff wrote. “The DNC is owned and operated by the Clintons. It is staffed by Clinton loyalists. It floats on cash raised by the Clinton fundraising apparatus. If Hillary Clinton decides to… make another White House run in 2020, no one in the DNC is going to stand in her way.”

Some pointed out that Clinton’s involvement in a series of photo ops with fans after she conceded defeat to Trump suggested that she wanted to remain in political conversion

This is also why she’s “randomly” appeared with so many Dem operatives/PR flacks in grocery stores and on hiking trails recently, btw. https://t.co/dNSbwQp18I — Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) November 28, 2016

Step 1: Delegitimize the vote.

Step 2: Humanize the candidate.

Step 3: 2016 replay of Clinton v Trump

Step 4: Mass suicides across USA. — Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) November 28, 2016

@sonnybunch It is reminiscent of what Gore did post-2000, back when he was contemplating rematch. Cultivate kindly scrappy loser aesthetic. — J.J. McCullough (@JJ_McCullough) November 28, 2016

A photograph circulated in the mainstream media and on social media had showed Clinton and a “disappointed supporter” in what was claimed to be a chance meeting in Chappaqua, soon after she lost the election.

She also later snapped a selfie with a New York woman she met at a grocery store while doing Thanksgiving shopping.

Citing evidence that the woman in the first Chappaqua photo, Margot Gerster, had previously met Clinton at a fundraiser, critics said the photos were staged.

The last thing on one NY woman's Thanksgiving shopping list? A selfie with Hillary Clinton at the grocery store: https://t.co/ckgDFlDysc pic.twitter.com/pRa9gJ5vb5 — NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) November 24, 2016

Woman sad about election bumps into Hillary Clinton while hiking https://t.co/WZDHVX2AfZ pic.twitter.com/LJztTqlt24 — CTV News (@CTVNews) November 12, 2016

If Clinton wins in 2020 she could beat Trump to become the oldest person in U.S. history to win a first term as president [Image by Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock]

“These encounters seem about as spontaneous as her entire presidential campaign, which was excruciatingly conventional,” HeatStreet commented.

Such observations led to the suggestion that the Clinton team might have deliberately floated the 2020 rerun suggestion through Fournier to test the reaction of Clinton supporters.

But others only pointed out that if Clinton eventually decides to run in 2020, she could, at 73, beat Trump to become the oldest person in U.S. history to win a first term as president.

However, practically everyone agreed that Clinton would not have the same the level of support she enjoyed in 2016 and that issues that dogged her 2016 campaign would not go away before 2020.

The Blaze predicted that a Clinton run in 2020 could see liberal Democratic voters migrating en masse to third party options.

“At this point, Clinton might be damaged goods. A 2020 run would be a fundraising quest at best.”

“She’d be back, she’d be twice as annoying (which is almost mathematically impossible), and she’d have half the enthusiasm (again, almost mathematically impossible),” writes Ben Shapiro on the Daily Wire. “Meanwhile, she’d suck all the oxygen out of the room, preventing other candidates from rising. Her corruption would ensure that any future Trump corruption would be negated as a campaign issue. Republicans should pray for more Hillary.”

Great meetings will take place today at Trump Tower concerning the formation of the people who will run our government for the next 8 years. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016

But meanwhile, Trump has expressed optimism about becoming a second term president.

[Featured Image by Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock]