Dean Phillips launches Democratic primary challenge to Joe Biden

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) is eyeing a collision course with President Joe Biden as the Minnesota Democrat announced his presidential primary challenge against the incumbent late Thursday.

“I am. I have to,” Phillips told CBS News in response to being asked if he was running for president. “I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country. But it’s not about the past. This is an election about the future.”

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“I will not sit still; 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,” the House Democrat continued.

Phillips is expected to officially launch his candidacy in Concord, where he’ll file to run in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary. He has already missed the deadline to appear in Nevada’s primary.

The 54-year-old lawmaker is a third-term congressman from Minnesota’s Minneapolis suburbs, coming from the state’s deep red 3rd Congressional District, becoming the first Democrat to win the seat since 1958.

Just as Biden presents himself, Phillips is considered to be a centrist Democrat. He left House Democratic leadership on Oct. 1, when he announced he would step down from his role as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. To most, the writing was on the wall that his 2024 primary challenge was coming.

Phillips’s bid is an extreme long shot, as it is unlikely anyone will be able to usurp Biden from the Democratic throne. But that does not mean his campaign comes without complications for the incumbent president soon to turn 81.

Phillips, the multimillionaire behind Talenti Gelato, is believed to be one of the wealthiest members of Congress. While he has given “almost 100% support” to Biden, as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre put it, he has also been critical of the president’s decision to “not pass the torch,” raising concerns about his age.

The Republican 2024 primary has been laced with attacks between challengers. While former President Donald Trump has avoided the debates, contenders in Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and others have lambasted him along their campaign trails, naturally seeing him as their main threat for the Republican nomination.

Biden — despite brief blitzes made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who no longer is running as a Democrat — has largely been able to skate over any opposition within his own party. Phillips’s challenge for the nomination, however far-fetched, will likely change that, and Biden could be faced with additional pressure regarding his age and competency.

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Even if Phillips’s bid flames out quickly, the sheer fact of discordance within the Democratic Party could play into Republicans’ hands in the general election, namely Trump’s, who polls far ahead of his GOP peers.

The “emergency” Phillips mentions is likely referring to the threat Trump poses to Biden’s reelection prospects. RealClearPolitics polling average currently has Trump just edging out Biden by 0.7%