--- title: Chelsea Clinton: Running for Office Is a 'Definite Maybe' description: "It’s a definite no now but it’s a definite maybe in the future" canonical: https://time.com/5372660/chelsea-clinton-edinburgh-book-festival/ author: Casey Quackenbush article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-21T05:42:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:12:01.276Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chelsea Clinton: Running for Office Is a 'Definite Maybe' og:description: "It’s a definite no now but it’s a definite maybe in the future" og:url: https://time.com/5372660/chelsea-clinton-edinburgh-book-festival/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8728f2295e0e2f20/69893836929fad6cd3bf15c8/gettyimages-1019380386.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Edinburgh International Book Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chelsea Clinton: Running for Office Is a 'Definite Maybe' twitter:description: "It’s a definite no now but it’s a definite maybe in the future" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8728f2295e0e2f20/69893836929fad6cd3bf15c8/gettyimages-1019380386.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chelsea Clinton Says She Wouldn't Rule Out Running for Political Office Someday by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Aug 21, 2018 5:42 AM UTC  Children's author Chelsea Clinton attends a photocall during the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival at Charlotte Square Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland on Aug. 19, 2018. Children's author Chelsea Clinton attends a photocall during the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival at Charlotte Square Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland on Aug. 19, 2018.Simone Padovani—Awakening/Getty Images by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Aug 21, 2018 5:42 AM UTC Chelsea Clinton said running for political office is a “definite no now,” but a “[definite maybe](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/20/chelsea-clinton-says-she-has-not-ruled-out-running-for-office)” in the future, the Press Association reports. Speaking at the Edinburgh international book festival, where she was touring to promote her new children’s book, the former first daughter expressed disdain over the actions of President Donald Trump and “a great amount of gratitude for what my congresswoman and my senators are doing to try to stop him at every point.” Clinton said that while she is already well represented by elected politicians, “if my city councillor were to retire, if my congresswoman were to retire, my senators, and I thought that I could make a positive impact, then I think I would really have to ask my answer to that question \[of whether to run for office\].” “For me it’s a definite no now but it’s a definite maybe in the future because who knows what the future is going to bring?” As much as Clinton disagreed with Trump, she defended his 12 year-old son Barron, who was the same age as her when her father, Bill, entered the White House. “I feel incredibly protective of Barron Trump, who is now 12 years old, the same age that I was,” she said. “I disagree with his father on everything but people have made fun of him \[Barron\], bullied him, for his appearance, or for him being more private… Equally I have no patience for that because he’s a child and he deserves a childhood as every child does.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5372660/chelsea-clinton-edinburgh-book-festival/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5372660/chelsea-clinton-edinburgh-book-festival/"},"headline":"Chelsea Clinton Says She Wouldn't Rule Out Running for Political Office Someday","datePublished":"2018-08-21T05:42:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:12:01.276Z","description":"\"It’s a definite no now but it’s a definite maybe in the future\"","url":"https://time.com/5372660/chelsea-clinton-edinburgh-book-festival/","keywords":["democrats","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8728f2295e0e2f20/69893836929fad6cd3bf15c8/gettyimages-1019380386.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8728f2295e0e2f20/69893836929fad6cd3bf15c8/gettyimages-1019380386.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Edinburgh International Book Festival","caption":"Edinburgh International Book Festival","creditText":"Simone Padovani—Awakening/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/democrats/","name":"democrats"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5372660/chelsea-clinton-edinburgh-book-festival/","name":"Chelsea Clinton Says She Wouldn't Rule Out Running for Political Office Someday"}}]}] ```