It's a question that's dogged Charlie Baker for some time now -- will he one day run for president?
And it's a question that more people have been wondering about since the Republican Massachusetts governor announced last year that he would not seek a third term.
During an appearance on GBH News' "Boston Public Radio" on Thursday, a caller asked Baker point blank: "When are you going to run for president?"
Baker was pretty blunt in his answer, but stopped short of ruling out the possibility altogether.
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"The long story short on this one -- I'm 65 years old and my family would like to see a lot more of me now that I'm Medicare eligible. I think the likelihood I would do anything else in elected politics is pretty slim."
Baker announced in December that he would not run for reelection, saying he needed to focus his efforts on the state's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is a ton of work that’s left to be done as we come out of this pandemic to rebuild, recreate, reimagine many of the things that were busted during the course of all this,” he said at the time. “We believe it’s most important that we spend the next year focusing on that and not focusing on, let’s call it the discourse — and that’s probably an insult to the word discourse — that comes with political campaigning.”
Baker's name has been floated as a potential presidential candidate over the years due to his popularity in various national polls. But the moderate Republican has clashed with conservative leaders of his own party in Massachusetts and frequently voiced his opposition to the policies of former President Donald Trump.
