(Headline USA) Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., the only Democrat lawmaker to run a primary campaign against President Joe Biden, blasted his party this week for coronating Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden dropped out.
“My core principle is that competition is the vitamin of democracy and that, yes, we should have run a different process from the beginning, which was simply to invite other candidates,” Phillips told Breitbart News at the Democratic National Convention.
“That didn’t happen,” he added.
The Democrat said he believes Harris is the best replacement for Biden, but he warned that his party was “this close to what I’d call another democratic disaster” as it attempts to astroturf her heavily scripted campaign and avoid answering any difficult questions.
The party should be “enhancing competition, encouraging debate, welcoming candidates, not suppressing and not discouraging” a robust primary process, he argued.
Yet with Biden during the 2024 Democratic primary and with Harris after Biden dropped out, DNC brass tacitly discouraged challengers in the interest of party unity.
Phillips said he felt vindicated for being willing to challenge Biden during the primary—even though party elites were determined to coronate the 81-year-old president, who showed obvious signs of cognitive decline.
“‘I told you so’ has never served me well, and I think we can all relate to that in our personal and professional relationships,” Phillips said.
He added that many of his relationships with Democratic colleagues have since been restored.
“Just on a very personal, human level, it feels good, kind of like being back at the popular table in the cafeteria,” Phillips joked.
After launching his primary campaign against Biden, Phillips was pressured to resign from House Democratic leadership.
“My convictions relative to the 2024 presidential race are incongruent with the majority of my caucus, and I felt it appropriate to step aside from elected leadership to avoid unnecessary distractions during a critical time for our country,” he said in a statement at the time.
