Attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents pornographic actor Stormy Daniels in her ongoing legal dispute with Donald Trump, said in a tweet on Wednesday that he would consider running against the president in the 2020 election.
“IF (big) he seeks re-election, I will run, but only if I think that there is no other candidate in the race that has a REAL chance at beating him. We can’t relive 2016. I love this country, our values and our people too much to sit by while they are destroyed,” Avenatti tweeted on the Independence Day holiday.
During a CNN appearance later in the day Avenatti stood by his tweet, saying he had “three things” that he believes Trump lacks: “brains, heart, and courage”.
IF (big) he seeks re-election, I will run, but only if I think that there is no other candidate in the race that has a REAL chance at beating him. We can't relive 2016. I love this country, our values and our people too much to sit by while they are destroyed. #FightClub #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 4, 2018
The tweet came in a thread asking Avenatti when he would announce his 2020 bid.
“Only a street fighter has a chance at displacing the ‘King’,” Avenatti said referring to New York Daily News cover that depicted Trump in clown paint with a crown. “Otherwise, this country and its principles will be in pieces and non-recognizable.”
I always liked the Daily News! Be clear - only a street fighter has a chance at displacing the “King.” Otherwise, this country and its principles will be in pieces and non-recognizable. #FightClub #Basta pic.twitter.com/X3sSR81daZ
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 4, 2018
In May Avenatti spoke to the Guardian about how he feels he embodies a “street fighter” type of persona and how he has been compared to Trump for that reason.
The veteran litigator has become one of the loudest and most biting public critics of Trump ever since his client Daniels went public in March with claims that she and Trump had engaged in a sexual affair over a decade ago while Melania Trump was pregnant with the couple’s son.
It has since been confirmed that Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen facilitated a $130,000 payment to Daniels in 2011, presumably to secure her silence about the affair. Daniels has also alleged that a Trump associate threatened violence against her and her daughter in a clandestine meeting that same year.
Since then Avenatti has made a number of provocative statements about Trump, including the prediction that the president would resign before the end of his first term.
“I don’t know how he will ultimately spin his departure, but I firmly believe there is going to be too much evidence of wrongdoing by him and those around him for him to be able to survive the balance of his term,” Avenatti said in May.
Back on Twitter on Wednesday, Avenatti seemed to be taking critiques of his announcement seriously, pushing back on the suggestion that the attorney, who has never held political office, would be too inexperienced to seriously challenge Trump.
“To those that claim that only a traditional politician with ‘experience’ can beat Trump, go back & look at the results from 2016. He beat all 15 of those candidates that he faced (crushed many). If we go down the same path and are not smart, don’t be surprised with the result,” he posted.
