Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is openly considering a future run for president, saying he believes there is a 65% to 70% chance he will eventually seek the White House.

Lemon made the comments during an appearance this week on Spencer Macnaughton’s UNCLOSETED podcast, where he was asked about growing speculation that he could enter politics.

“If the people want me, I’ll do it,” Lemon said, explaining that people frequently ask him whether he would consider running for office. He also said he has previously told people he believes he could be a better president than President Donald Trump.

Lemon acknowledged that running for president would be a major undertaking and said he would prefer to continue working in journalism. However, he said he would consider a campaign if he believed it was the best way for him to help Americans.

When Macnaughton pressed him for a percentage, asking how likely he thought it was that he would run before the end of his life, Lemon responded, “65, 70.”

Lemon's potential political ambitions come despite a long record of controversies dating back to his years in television news. He has repeatedly faced criticism over comments involving race and politics, including accusations from critics that he has invoked racial issues to defend himself or attack opponents. Lemon has also insisted that he is not a liberal, despite his years as a prominent CNN personality frequently involved in political coverage.

More recently, Lemon became embroiled in a legal controversy after appearing at an anti-ICE demonstration that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, in January. Federal prosecutors later charged Lemon and other participants with civil-rights offenses connected to the protest. Lemon has maintained that he was there as an independent journalist covering the demonstration, while prosecutors alleged that he participated in conduct that intimidated churchgoers.

Video reviewed by The Washington Post provided a more complicated picture, showing Lemon entering the church and livestreaming the demonstration but not appearing to threaten congregants or participate in the chanting. Lemon has continued to deny wrongdoing and is seeking to have the charges dismissed.

Lemon also suggested he could potentially continue his journalism career while pursuing a political campaign, saying that combining the two could represent a different approach to running for president.

For now, Lemon has not formally announced a presidential campaign. But his estimate that there is a 65% to 70% chance he will eventually run puts the possibility well beyond the level of a casual political tease.