Yahoo News Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips Officially Launches Democratic Primary Bid, Challenging President Biden
The congressman, who recently resigned from his House leadership role, said he wanted to offer a new generation of candidates for the Democratic nomination
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Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., speaks during the Problem Solvers Caucus press conference in the Capitol on Tuesday,Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota has announced his presidential campaign to challenge President Joe Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary, according to multiple reports.
In a clip posted on Instagram, Phillips, 54, told CBS News he thought Biden “has done a spectacular job for our country, but it’s not about the past.”
“I will not sit still,” he added. “I will not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying that we’re going to be facing an emergency next November.”
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., nominates Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, for Speaker of House on Friday, January 6, 2023.On Friday, Phillips is expected to officially launch his campaign in Concord, where he will file to run for the Democratic primary in New Hampshire, CNN reported.
In a 60-second spot in the Granite State on Friday morning, the Democrat said, “I'm Dean Phillips and I'm running for President of the United States of America,” adding, “And I'm coming to New Hampshire to answer your questions.”
“I love New Hampshire,” he continued. “I spent my summers as a kid in the White Mountains, going to camp, got to canoe the Saco River, learn how to fish, learn how to shoot a gun. Got to climb the presidential range including Mount Washington.”
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Dean Phillips, D-Minn., right, and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., are seen outside the House Democratic Caucus leadership election in Longworth Building on Wednesday, November 30, 2022.“And it's also where I learned to love my country and that's why I'm back as a candidate for president in the place where we begin, where presidential candidates stand before you, the voters walk through the snow, listen to your dreams, hear your concerns and most of all discuss how we're gonna work together to move to the future,” Phillips concluded.
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The congressman, who recently stepped down from his House Democratic leadership role, claimed the president would be a weak contender in the general election due to his age and low popularity ratings, per CNN.
According to NBC News, two sources said Phillips tried to reach Biden three months ago to discuss his support for a contested Democratic primary, but his call was not answered.
Phillips told CNN that the call was “a courtesy to advise him of my intentions, which at that time were to call for a new generation of candidates to compete for the nomination.”
Publicly, Phillips — also a multi-millionaire — has said Biden is not capable of beating Donald Trump as he did in 2020, per Time.
"I think he's a man of decency, of good principle, of compassion, of empathy and of strength,” Phillips said of Biden in a July radio interview, per Time. “But to answer your question directly, which I know is quite rare, uh no, I don't. I think the country would be well served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats to step up."
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