Democratic congressman Dean Phillips launches primary challenge against Biden

The little-known Democratic congressman Dean Phillips has launched a campaign to challenge sitting President Joe Biden, leaving many of his supporters and colleagues confused, if not outright upset.

After weeks of speculation and behind-the-scenes manoeuvreing, Phillips finally publicly announced he’s running in an interview on CBS.

He filed paperwork in New Hampshire on Friday morning and posted a lengthy explanation of his bid for the presidency on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying his campaign would focus on the economy and safety, but also generational change.

“I didn’t set out to enter this race,” he wrote. “But it looks like on our current course, the Democrats will lose and Trump will be our president again. President Biden is a good man and someone I tremendously respect. I understand why other Democrats don’t want to run against him, and why we are here. This is a last-minute campaign, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and courage is an important value to me.”

A campaign website, dean24.com, went live Thursday night, but simply solicits donations and carries no details on Phillips’ plans or policy ideas. He also filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission Thursday night.

Related: The old story: Biden team veers from humour to hardball to tackle age issue

Running on a slogan of “Make America Affordable Again,” a nod to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again,” Phillips brought a campaign bus and “government repair” van to New Hampshire to make his case to voters.

In his interview on CBS News, Phillips said Biden had done a “spectacular job for our country.”

“But it’s not about the past,” Phillip said. “This is an election about the future. I will not sit still, I will not be quiet, when we’re facing numbers that are so clearly saying that we’ll be facing an emergency next November.”

Phillips so far has not articulated the policy differences between himself and Biden. Instead, he’s pointed to Biden’s age, saying a younger generation should be given the opportunity to lead.

It’s not clear how Phillips’ entry into the Democratic primary would achieve the goal of passing the torch to younger politicians: He is near-certain to lose the Democratic nomination contest, and his pressure on the president’s campaign cannot solve the issue of Biden’s age. Phillips’ end goal with the campaign could be an attempt to boost himself nationally, though it’s likely to anger more Democrats than win them over.

He will not have the financial or organizational support of the Democratic Party, either nationally or locally, as it will work to keep the top office in party control by backing Biden. Phillips, though, has his own wealth. He is heir to a distilling company and the former co-owner of gelato company Talenti.

While Democrats nationally and in New Hampshire are asking “who” when they hear of Phillips’ campaign, Minnesota Democrats are asking “why.”

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party said it will be “enthusiastically supporting” Biden in the primary and general election, touting the president’s record.

“A primary challenge only wastes the resources we need to defeat Donald Trump and the Maga extremists who are threatening our democracy,” said Ken Martin, the Minnesota party’s chair.

Some local Democrats who supported Phillips in his previous runs for Congress, in a centrist district that he flipped from Republican control in 2018, said they feel bewildered by the choice and are struggling to figure out the end goal. The presidential announcement comes after another move that angered some progressives in his district, when Phillips said he wouldn’t oppose Republican Minnesota congressman Tom Emmer for speaker as long as Emmer met certain conditions, like funding the government and bringing aid bills for Ukraine and Israel to the floor. His speculated run for the presidency drew him a primary challenger in his district.

Bonnie Westlin, a state senator in Minnesota who lives in Phillips’ district, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the congressman should resign his seat and that he would never get her support for elected office again.

“Make America Affordable Again? Pretty rich coming from a multimillionaire,” she wrote.

Westlin told the Guardian that she’s supporting Biden, like the rest of the state and national party leaders.

“With so much on the line in 2024, including abortion rights and the very fate of democracy at home and abroad, undermining president Biden with a primary challenge is an unnecessary distraction and only serves to put the future of our country in jeopardy,” she said.

Susan Herder, a Democrat in Minneapolis, near Phillips’ suburban district, said she has respect for Phillips but that his entry into the presidential race is an “unfortunate choice.” She’s a huge Biden supporter and hopes that Phillips being in the primary somehow fuels the Biden campaign more and gives the president additional momentum.

Nationally, Democratic elected officials have spoken out against Phillips’ plans to run. Phillips stepped down from a Dem leadership role because his views on Biden’s reelection were “causing discomfort” with his colleagues. Biden’s camp has pointed to Phillips’ near-lock-step voting record with the Biden agenda.

Biden himself will not be on the New Hampshire ballot because the state’s contest because it now falls outside the Democratic National Committee’s rules for selecting delegates. He is, however, visiting Minnesota next week.