John Kerry responds to Trump tweet on 2020: 'I doubt I'd be running for office again'

Former Secretary of State John Kerry responded to the president's tweet alleging he has plans to run against him in 2020 with what has become a now-common refrain from the former presidential candidate: "I doubt I'd be running for office again."

Supporters are quick to point out that Kerry, a stalwart of the Democratic party for more than 30 years, hasn't flat-out said "no." But he's trying to be frank, he said Wednesday morning.

"I've tried to be as direct and honest as I can about it. I doubt I would be running for office again. I think that it's a mistake to be focused on 2020. It just really is. Every bit of energy and focus ought to be on 2018. And that's the moment," Kerry said on ABC's "The View," where he was publicizing his new memoir, "Every Day is Extra," about the crucial moments he's played a role in over the course of his career.

Kerry's response echoed what he said on "CBS This Morning" Tuesday. "I doubt very much I'll be running for office again," he said then, later pivoting to 2018.

The president tweeted Monday that Kerry, who ran against former President George W. Bush as the Democratic nominee after Bush's first term, was "thinking of running."

"I should only be so lucky," Trump tweeted, predicting that Kerry would be an easy opponent for him. He also sought to tie Kerry to the Iran nuclear deal, which Kerry orchestrated as Secretary of State under former President Barack Obama and which Trump pulled the U.S. out of in May.

Kerry, in response, said he thinks Trump made a "terrible mistake" removing the U.S. from the accord. "I say this straightforwardly. The Iran nuclear agreement is the most accountable nuclear agreement, the strongest, the most intrusive, that we have anywhere on the planet," he said.