Here’s How Likely Presidential Candidates Badmouth the Job They Want

It’s that time in the election cycle when presidential hopefuls get coy about making a decision.

But that means it’s getting harder for a likely candidate to pretend that they’re not interested in being the leader of the free world. One way to do that? By arguing that being president isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Here’s how some potential 2016 candidates have been knocking the presidency.

Being President is Too Stressful

Ben Carson: “I’m not sure that anybody wants to put themselves in that kind of horrible and stressful situation, that has never been a goal of mine.” (POLITICO)

Hillary Clinton: “I’ve known a lot of presidents over the course of the last many decades … And it is such a hard job … It is such a challenging job … you can easily lose touch with what’s real, what’s authentic, who you were before you were sworn in to office.” (POLITICO)

My Family Won’t Like Living in the White House

Chris Christie: “Patrick goes to a great school that he really likes, and he kind of sat down and figured out that he’d be in the middle of high school if I ran for president and won. He said, ‘Well, I’d be able to keep going to my school, right?’ Like, well, no. I mean, we have to move…to the White House? In Washington. You’d pretty much have to come with us. And that pretty much put him off; he’s off the bandwagon now. [And] Sarah would be in the middle of college. Not so much in favor. You know, the whole idea of Secret Service agents living in your dorm?” (NJ.com)

Jeb Bush: “Can I do it where the sacrifice for my family is tolerable?… It’s a pretty ugly business right now. So I’m not saying, ‘Oh, woe is me.’ Don’t get me wrong. There’s a level under which I would never subjugate my family because that’s my organizing principle, that’s my life. I think people kind of appreciate that. So, I’m sorting that out.” (POLITICO)

Running for the White House Isn’t Fun

Paul Ryan: “I don’t feel the need to be out there, putting my toe in the water. I don’t see the point in it. It’s not fun, and I don’t think I need to.” (Washington Post)

It’ll Ruin My Looks

Scott Walker: “I say this only half-jokingly, that you have to be crazy to want to be president. Anyone who’s seen the pictures of this president or any of the former presidents can see the before and after, no matter how fit, no matter how young they are, they age pretty rapidly when you look at their hair and everything else involved with it.” (The Hill)