Both of these things can be true at the same time.
Dean Phillips can simultaneously support Joe Biden and believe he will lose to Donald Trump next year.
Following Minnesota Democrat Dean Phillips’ announcement that he’s throwing his hat into the ring for the party’s nomination, a Daily Beast article tried to attack him as a hypocrite for running against the man he’s enthusiastically supported and admired in the past.
This is absurd.
Phillips has been clear throughout the summer and fall: he tremendously respects Biden — “an amazing man” — but also believes the president should pass the torch to a different, younger nominee for 2024, because significant data suggests he will lose to Donald Trump next November.
Read this portion of his campaign announcement on X:
It is possible to have great respect for the president’s accomplishments — and to have supported all of his policy priorities as a congressman — while simultaneously believing he is not the best Democrat to beat Trump next year. Suggesting otherwise is dishonest and unfair — vapid gotcha politics.
Phillips has been a responsible Democrat who supported the president’s governing agenda, but now believes the risk of Biden losing to Trump next year is very high. This is how certain people are going to attack Phillips during the primary? For being too responsible? Problematic.