Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips says he’s running for president because he thinks Biden might lose to Trump

WASHINGTON — Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., said on Friday that he’s challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination for president because he doesn’t think Biden can win next year’s general election.

“Right now, if this election was held today, President Biden would lose, and it is an existential threat to the future of the United States of America. That will not happen under my watch,” Phillips said in an interview NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker.

Phillips, who announced his candidacy on Thursday, said he thinks Biden might lose to former President Donald Trump in Nov. 2024. The congressman, however, was hesitant Friday to state that he’s running against Biden. “I’m not running against Joe Biden ... I’m running for the future. Yes, we have some policy differences, but I’m a proud Democrat.”

Asked if he had criticisms of Biden’s leadership or if he disagrees with him on certain policies, Phillips said that the “circumstances at our southern border, and which I visited twice, are a good example where I believe Democrats have not done the job.”

Phillips told NBC News that he wouldn’t run as an independent for president and encouraged other candidates running, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Cornel West, to also run for the Democratic nomination.

“I will not demean the president; I will not undermine him,” the congressman said. “Whoever the Democratic nominee is, I believe it will be me. But if it is someone else, I promise to do everything I can — every ounce of energy, every moment of my day — to ensure that he or she is elected, because that’s how important it is right now.”

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He also said the U.S. political system is “broken” and “corrupt” and “so in need of someone who does not come from 50 years of spending time in Washington.”

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In a statement Friday, Biden’s campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz responded to Phillips' announcement by saying, “President Biden is proud of the historic, unified support he has from across the Democratic party for his reelection. The stakes of next year’s election could not be higher for the American people, and the campaign is hard at work mobilizing the winning coalition that President Biden can uniquely bring together to once again beat the MAGA Republicans next November.” 

Phillips first announced his presidential bid in an interview with CBS News.