Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder elaborated on his decision to not seek the GOP nomination for the White House Friday, saying that while he did “a fair amount of homework,” the 2016 chatter was becoming “a distraction.”
In an interview with Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin and John Heilemann on “With All Due Respect,” Snyder also said that reports were simply speculation and that he had not set a July 7th announcement date.
MARK HALPERIN: I do want to paint you down a bit on consideration for presidential run. As from what we heard, it was much more extensive and much more significant and serious than you’ve let on in public. So I just want to run you through some of that. It’s true that you had a pretty extensive series of meetings about what a presidential campaign would look like. Correct?
RICK SNYDER: Well what I’d say, Mark — let me sort of encapsulate the whole thing. I did a fair amount of homework. And, actually, I talked to a number of people who had been involved in previous campaigns I’ve been part of because I appreciate their thought processes and such. But at the same time, I always kept the eye on the ball to make sure we were doing good things for Michigan. I am a good nerd, so I tried to do my homework.
HALPERIN: So part of that homework involved figuring out how much money you would need to raise. We’ve heard that you a pretty extensive rollout plan. And even, we heard you actually had a tentative date to announce a candidacy on July 7th. Is that true?
SNYDER: I view that is speculation at that point because I never set down and said, this is the date I’m looking at. People talk about a lot of things in the process. There may have been people that are trying to give me advice coming up with dates, but as a practical matter, I didn’t pick any date or anything like that because, again, I had to go through the exercise I just did.
HALPERIN: So you weren’t planning a run, you were doing your homework — you were doing research. But is it the case that until this week, you were inclined to run for president and this week you decided not to, or that’s not the case?
SNYDER: Well what I would say is this is the week I announced I made a decision because, again, it is one of those things that, in terms of people talking about the subject matter, it is a good way to highlight Michigan. It really brought attention to the state of Michigan. When you’re going through this exercise…
HALPERIN: With all due respect, this is the week you announced it. As John said, this is also the week your efforts to help find a way to pay for roads in Michigan, transportation in Michigan, went down. How should we not see there some linkage there, given that up until this week, you seemed to be moving ahead with fundraising plans, announcement plans, scheduling plans for a presidential campaign. There must be some linkage it would seem.
SNYDER: Well, again, I wouldn’t necessarily draw that conclusion. What it means is I had a whole series of issues…that I thought they were important issues for Michigan. Add to that list is one that might have otherwise been solved, which is the transportation issue. But that is one of several issues that are part of the consideration.
HALPERIN: So I will try one more time: Why did you announce it this week then?
SNYDER: The speculation was actually becoming a distraction from doing the job as governor of Michigan. One thing I don’t want people to confuse is I’ve been quite clear. I want to tell the Michigan story. I think it is a great story of our come back. I think it is a model for the country. I believe we need a problem-solver in Washington. So I want to continue that dialogue, but I actually think it has more credibility by just clarifying things to saying I am not running. But I still think there is an important message that went on in Michigan, going on in Michigan, and will continue to be important in, I hope, the national dialogue to see what a great place we are and how we can help solve national issues.
WATCH: