Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate, recently scrapped a reference to “diversity, equity and inclusion” from his campaign website while strengthening ties with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who opposes DEI. 

The Minnesota Democrat removed “DEI” from his campaign site’s platform section earlier this week, replacing the term with an “Equity and Restorative Justice” tab. As of Wednesday, the description under the header remains unchanged, in which Phillips is described as an “ally” who “understands that in a country where all are created equal, disparities can only exist because our policies, systems, or structures have — intentionally or otherwise — propagated them.”

Phillips’s campaign site included the DEI tab as recently as Monday, as shown by the Wayback Machine, but had changed by Tuesday, Politico reported.  

Ackman’s support for Phillips was highlighted on Saturday when he pledged $1 million to back Phillips’s challenge to President Joe Biden, the hedge fund manager wrote to more than 1 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“As Dean rises in the polls and Biden deteriorates, the Democratic Party is going to have to choose a candidate that can beat the Republican nominee,” Ackman said. “If by then, as I expect, Dean is polling substantially better than Biden against Trump, I predict that the party will choose Dean Phillips over Biden. The party will have no choice.”

Ackman has discouraged Biden from seeking a second term in office due to his physical and cognitive state, pushing the 81-year-old president to step aside and make room for a new generation of leaders. 

“This is by far the largest investment I have ever made in someone running for office, and I am making this investment at a high risk, but critically important moment for his campaign,” Ackman said of his hefty donation for Phillips, which was set to go through on Tuesday.

Ackman, the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, received backlash from his followers, who pointed out DEI was a pillar of Phillips’s campaign site. In defense of the Minnesota representative, Ackman said Phillips is “getting educated” on the matter. 

“I believe @deanbphillips didn’t understand what DEI was when that was made part of his website. I made the same mistake,” Ackman wrote on Sunday. “He is getting educated as we speak. Let’s listen to what he has to say after he gets educated.”

On Tuesday morning, Ackman defended Phillips again, writing, “He didn’t understand DEI until recently. I don’t fault him for that. I didn’t either.” In response to the DEI section and the language under the header, Ackman said he’d “expect that statement will be revised promptly.”

Katie Dolan, a Phillips campaign spokeswoman, told Politico the move to nix DEI as the header was not connected to Ackman’s massive donation and criticism of DEI.

“DEI now means such divergent things to different people that it is no longer descriptive. Instead of an academic discussion of a phrase, our campaign prefers to focus on the urgent need to address and redress racial disparities — the policy substance of which remains completely unchanged on our site,” Dolan said. “We believe the current accordion drop-down button ‘Equity and Restorative Justice’ provides an unambiguous description of the campaign’s goal of an America where all people live in economic security and social dignity.”

Ackman has found himself in the spotlight multiple times recently after leading calls to oust former Harvard University President Claudine Gay until her resignation earlier this month. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Ackman joined Elon Musk and Phillips in a Spaces conversation, X’s livestream service, to discuss DEI in colleges and corporations.

In a contentious statement, Ackman said he believes the late civil rights icon would have opposed the DEI movement.

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“I think Dr. King would be very opposed to this sort of ideology, even though, you know, diversity is a good thing, even though, of course, a culture where everyone feels comfortable and included is critically important,” Ackman said on Tuesday afternoon.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Phillips’s campaign for further comment.