Former New York Gov. George Pataki said Monday that he is “seriously” considering getting into the crowded Republican race for president in 2016, and for good measure took a swipe at Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Mr. Pataki, a three-time governor, said he has the executive experience that would be a welcome change in the White House.
“It would be nice to have a president who has run something before taking the most important executive position in America,” he said on Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting Show,” jabbing President Obama, who became president after a brief stint in the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Pataki, 69, also took aim at Mrs. Warren, the liberal Massachusetts Democrat who is being urged by her party’s left wing to run as an alternative to undisputed Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“Her philosophy is way to the left of me and way to the left of the American people. And it’s not what we need more of,” Mr. Pataki said of Mrs. Warren.
“I also don’t think that someone who has never had a day’s experience running something can be expected to run the government of this country particularly well,” he added.
Mrs. Warren has said that she isn’t in the race but never forcefully shut the door on a run.
Mr. Pataki said he plans to travel Tuesday to New Hampshire, home of country’s first presidential primary, as he tests the water for a political comeback.
He has plenty of company from Republicans eyeing the White House, including Wisconsin Gov. Scot Walker, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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