Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., has dropped out of the 2024 presidential campaign and endorsed President Joe Biden.
“Americans demanded an alternative, and democracy demands options. But it is clear that I am not the alternative,” Phillips wrote on the social media platform X on Wednesday. “And it is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to show what kind of country America is is and wants to be.”
Phillips’ departure from the Democratic primary came hours after Republican candidate Nikki Haley announced her own decision to suspend her presidential bid, effectively cementing the rematch predicted in November between President Joe Biden and twice-impeached former President Donald Trump .
Phillips’ announcement diminishes an already uncompetitive Democratic primary.
On Super Tuesday, Biden picked up victories in state after state, although he lost the U.S. territory of American Samoa to little-known Democrat Jason Palmer. Biden’s campaign has been in general election mode for weeks and is moving into high gear after the president won New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Phillips hinted at an announcement on Super Tuesday, cryptically noting that he would “make decisions in the coming days.”
“As the only candidate who never lost to Donald Trump in any poll, I am grateful for the beautifully orchestrated outpouring of wishes to complete my mission and ensure his defeat,” Phillips wrote in an X post on Super Tuesday. “I am touched by the thoughtfulness and will make decisions in the coming days about how best to achieve this goal.”
Phillips had previously promised to stick with the Democratic National Convention campaign. With funds running low, the campaign had to scale back its activities to stay afloat, canceling planned events and laying off staff in February.
“I found it almost impossible to raise enough money to run this campaign the way I wanted,” Phillips said in a Feb. 16 social media post.
With most of the funding coming from his own pocket, Phillips, 55, launched his long-term presidential bid in October, running as a younger alternative to the 81-year-old Biden.
But beyond Phillips’ age, the third-term congressman and former CEO of Talenti gelato failed to differentiate himself from the incumbent president. In Congress, he voted in lockstep with Biden’s agenda and otherwise expressed no major policy differences with Biden.
In January, Phillips said if elected president his cabinet could include Tesla founder Elon Musk and hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman.
Another potential challenger to Biden, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-Wa., formally announced on Feb. 16 that he would not run for president after a months-long flirtation with a third-party bid.
With his grip on the Democratic nomination firmly in hand, the president has already turned his attention to the general election, which is likely to be a rematch between Biden and Trump.
Although Biden’s age wasn’t enough to single-handedly keep Phillips’ campaign afloat, he’s still a major weak point as the general election approaches.
Recent polls in February showed that concerns about Biden’s age and mental ability remained the top issues among respondents, even as his marks on other key voter priorities such as the economy are improving.
Questions about the president’s age and mental capacity have been growing, particularly since the February 8 release of a Justice Department report by special counsel Robert Hur.
The report examined Biden’s handling of classified documents and cleared the president of criminal liability for documents that were improperly preserved. But what caught the public’s attention was Hur’s description of Biden as a “compassionate, well-meaning, older man with a poor memory.”
“My memory is fine,” a visibly upset Biden said at a news conference hours after the Hur report was released. “I’m an older man and I know what the hell I’m doing.”
Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:
Source link
2024-03-06 21:37:56
www.cnbc.com