Chelsea Clinton Says She's Not Running for Office But You Should

(Bloomberg) -- Chelsea Clinton has been asked hundreds of times if she’s going to run for office. The first was when she was 3.

“That says something pretty powerful to me,” Clinton, 38, told an audience at the Bloomberg’s Business of Equality Summit in New York on Tuesday. “We expect you to at least consider to do something important and powerful.”

Clinton, the only child of former president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, says she now turns the question around.

"Have you ever asked anyone whose last name isn’t Clinton that question?” she said she tells the inquisitor. “Did anyone ever ask you that question?”

Clinton, the vice chairman of the Clinton Foundation, says it’s incumbent upon the wealthy and influential in society to create the “expectation of engagement” for young people.

“We have to think about how we democraticize access to opportunities,” she said. “What do we need to do today, but also what do we need to do tomorrow?”

Clinton noted that there’s a record number of women and young people running for political office. Those seeking office don’t have to limit themselves to making change in just Washington, she said. There’s lots to be done on the local and state level as well.

As for her current plans, the former first daughter said she’s politically active but has no plans to run for office.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordyn Holman in New York at jholman19@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Mark Schoifet

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