Ex-HP chief Fiorina says chance of presidential run ‘higher than 90%’

New York: The former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina said on Sunday there was a “higher than 90%” chance she would run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Fiorina, who would be the first — and likely only — woman to enter the Republican race, told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace there was a “very high” chance she would run.

She told Fox she was making sure she had the right team in place and the right support but expected to make an announcement in late April or early May. Fiorina batted off suggestions she was pitching for the vice-presidential role, telling Wallace she would answer that question when he asked it of the other, male candidates.

“I come from a world outside of politics where track records and accomplishments count — words don’t,” said Fiorina. “If I run for president, it’s because I can win the job and it’s because I can do the job.”

Asked why people should vote for her, Fiorina said: “Because I have a deep understanding of how the economy actually works, having started as a secretary and becoming the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world.

“Because I understand how the world works ... because I understand technology ... because I understand bureaucracies, how they work and how you need to change them.”

Fiorina has in recent weeks emerged as one of likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s loudest critics, attacking the former first lady on issues including her use of a personal email account when she was secretary of state.

“In effect, @HillaryClinton told us to trust her,” Fiorina posted on Twitter earlier this month. “Nothing in her track record suggests we should do so.”

An adviser to Senator John McCain during his failed 2008 presidential bid and the loser in a 2010 attempt to oust the California senator Barbara Boxer, Fiorina has been courting technology executives, a rich source of funding that has traditionally favoured Democrats.

In February, Fiorina and likely Republican presidential rivals Ted Cruz — who this week became the first to declare his candidacy — and Rand Paul addressed a Washington conference of technologists organised by Lincoln Labs, a libertarian technology lobby group. Related: Ted Cruz calls on ‘courageous conservatives’ to rise up as he announces presidential run “Washington DC has become a vast, unaccountable bureaucracy. It’s been growing for 40 years, we have no idea how our money is spent,” said Fiorina. “How many inspector general reports do we need to read that say, you know, you can watch porn all day long and get paid exactly the same way as someone who is trying to do their job?”

While Fiorina is trumpeting her tenure at Hewlett-Packard, her leadership of the tech icon was highly controversial. Fiorina has been named one of the US’s worst chief executives on several occasions. In her five-and-a-half years in the top job, the company’s stock price almost halved, she fired 30,000 US workers, and she was dismissed by the board and given a $21m severance package, as well as $21m in stock options and pension benefits. “I’m very proud of our record,” said Fiorina.

“We went from a market laggard to market leader.” Fiorina said she managed the company through the worst technology recession in 25 years.