Failed presidential candidate Eric Swalwell's about-face on running for Congress features 'some AOC-level gobbledygook'

Sarah D | 5:27 PM on July 08, 2019

As Twitchy told you, Eric Swalwell has made it officially officially and announced his withdrawal from the Democratic presidential race. And inquiring minds wanna know: having already succeeded in moving the needle on gun control, what’s left for him to do now? Surely he’s not going to run for Congress again, having vowed earlier this year that he wouldn’t:

Swalwell said in February he would give up his House seat if he ran for president:

"If you decide to run for president, would you give up your seat in Congress?"

"Yes," Swalwell said, adding that voters need assurance "you're not hedging"https://t.co/Zn9vn5iDou pic.twitter.com/vM4hBuuCMu

— Jeff Cimmino (@jeffcimmino) July 8, 2019

He was pretty unequivocal about giving up his House seat.

"I think you have to." Yikes https://t.co/krWr08UvHu

— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) July 8, 2019

“I think you have to.” Or … not:

JUST IN: @EricSwalwell ends his 2020 presidential bid. "There will be a time that everything is over. That will be the beginning. Today ends our presidential campaign, but it is the beginning of an opportunity in Congress … to bring that promise of America to all Americans."

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) July 8, 2019

Alrighty then.

If everything is over, that's the end, not the beginning.

This is some AOC-level gobbledygook. https://t.co/OCUW5uIVH9

— Eric Spencer (@JustEric) July 8, 2019

In February, Swalwell said he was "burning the boats" and wouldn't run for House again.

He's telling reporters now that he'll run for his House seat again. "Because we ran a credible campaign, I'll be able to advocate even more effectively for my constituents."

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 8, 2019

So basically, he lied. Only it was worse than regular lying, because after casting himself as some kind of hero for giving up his congressional seat to run for president, he’s now trying to cast himself as some kind of hero for not giving it up after all. The guy was polling at zero percent right out of the gate and failed to move the needle the entire time he was in the presidential race. We’re supposed to believe that his decision to run for Congress again wasn’t something he was planning this whole time? Please.

What a vivid shade of shocked I just turned.

— Daniel Summers (@WFKARS) July 8, 2019

I guess it was time to pass the boat burning torch

— Josh (@joshpitdcmia) July 8, 2019

"The boats? They weren't burnt, just put in storage for a while. What? No, I don't have them in front of me right now."

— Matthew Hadro (@matthadro) July 8, 2019

Honestly, who does Eric Swalwell think he’s fooling?