Presidential candidate Dean Phillips, a Democrat, unleashed a long-winded statement last week attacking the Florida Democratic Party’s decision to effectively cancel its presidential primary and award the state’s 250 delegates to President Joe Biden.
Phillips, a left-wing congressman from Minnesota, said in his statement, “Americans would expect the absence of democracy in Tehran, not Tallahassee.” Additionally, Rep. Phillips called on “President Biden and Americans of all political affiliations to condemn and immediately address this blatant act of electoral corruption.”
In Florida, Democratic candidates must make a written request to the state party to appear on the Democratic presidential primary ballot. From there, the Florida Democratic Party gets to choose which names it submits to the Florida secretary of state for inclusion in the state’s Democratic primary.
The Florida Democratic Party submitted only Biden’s name despite multiple candidates, including Phillips, expressing their desire to appear on the primary ballot.
Jeff Weaver, a senior advisor to the Phillips campaign and former Bernie Sanders campaign staffer, said the Florida Democratic Party is “engaging in the politburo politics of places like Cuba or the old Soviet Union. Communist Party insiders make the decision instead of the people.”
Weaver described the process as “corrupt” and “rigged.”
In a separate statement from this week, Rep. Phillips also attacked the North Carolina Democratic Party’s decision to only include Biden on its presidential primary ballot. Regarding the state party’s decision, Phillips said, “It is tragic to witness fundamental American democracy under attack … .”
Phillips plans to file challenges with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) regarding his exclusion from Democratic primary ballots in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Ironically, Rep. Phillips’ campaign slogan is “Everyone’s invited.”
Phillips launched his long-shot bid to become the 2024 Democratic nominee in October. Since then, Phillips’ campaign has attempted to draw political contrasts between himself and Biden.
The congressman has criticized Biden’s handling of the southern border crisis, proclaimed that “Bidenomics” is “not working,” and positioned himself to the left of Biden on marijuana legalization.
However, in Congress Rep. Phillips voted with the Biden administration 100% of the time. Additionally, Phillips and Biden hold almost identical positions on a variety of topics including their mutual support for abortion, amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Phillips says he is running because he believes that Biden cannot win the 2024 presidential election, arguing that “it is time for the torch to be passed to a new generation of American leaders.”
Despite these feelings, Phillips believes his campaign is “not in opposition to President Biden.” As a matter of fact, Phillips has described Biden as a “wonderful and remarkable man” who has Phillips’ “affection” and “gratitude.”
Complicating Phillips’ efforts to win the Democratic presidential nomination are the actions of the DNC.
Beginning in 2022, the DNC took significant measures to blunt the efforts of those who seek to challenge Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. Specifically, the DNC rearranged the primary calendar to favor states that Biden won in 2020. In addition, the DNC has refused to hold primary debates.
Nevertheless, Rep. Phillips leapt into the race with the goal of winning New Hampshire’s first in the nation primary. However, Biden has refused to participate in New Hampshire’s primary because it conflicts with the DNC’s rearranged primary calendar. As such, Phillips is running in a state primary where his opponent for the nomination is not even an official candidate.
Many within the Democratic Party have expressed their bewilderment regarding Phillips’ presidential campaign. Ken Martin, the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, said, “I’m obviously disappointed that he’s decided to, you know, squander his political capital on a wild goose chase.”
Phillips initially launched his presidential campaign with the help of political strategist Steve Schmidt, a Republican-turned-Democrat, Lincoln Project co-founder, and former John McCain campaign staffer. However, Phillips says Steve Schmidt is no longer affiliated with the Phillips presidential campaign.
Last month, Rep. Phillips announced that if his campaign is not viable after Super Tuesday (March 5), he would get out of the presidential race and support whoever becomes the Democratic nominee for president.
Phillips is not seeking reelection to his House seat in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District in 2024.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
