Former United States Secretary of State, Massachusetts senator and presidential candidate John Kerry joined Jim Braude on Greater Boston Wednesday to discuss his new book “Every Day is Extra” and the current state of politics.
“I am as angry as the next person,” Kerry said.
He discussed President Donald Trump’s address to the United Nations Monday when Trump claimed that his administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. Kerry called the comments “laughable.”
Some of the assembly at the U.N. had burst out in laughter after the president made that claim.
“I suspect that at first he didn't probably understand that they were really laughing at him,” Kerry said.
Kerry implied he doubts the president is competent but added that it is a mistake to discuss using the 25th amendment prematurely.
“You have to let the Mueller investigation run its course,” he said.
Kerry also discussed “flirting” with the idea of sharing the presidential ticket with John McCain in 2004, despite their deep differences. They found some common ground on Vietnam even though Kerry protested the war after returning home from serving and McCain was a prisoner of war.
“We both knew we needed to change America’s relationship with the Vietnam War,” Kerry said.
Braude pressed Kerry on whether he was mulling another presidential run in 2020. Kerry maintains that he is not ruling it out but that he wants the focus of the Democratic party to be on November’s midterms.
“I don’t rule a lot of things out, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to go do those things,” he said. “All the effort ought to be going to win in November.”
Braude asked Kerry how he deals with the disappointment of losing to George W. Bush in the 2004 election and seeing the Trump administration revoke policies he worked for as secretary of state.
“I’m a fighter,” Kerry replied, referencing the title of his book . "[I have] the optimism of a guy who has been close to being killed many times and who believes everyday being extra we have an opportunity to make a difference. We can make a difference. We've done it before and we will do it now."
