Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Min.) recently announced on Friday evening that his 2024 presidential campaign is currently laying off a substation number of staff amid financial challenges.
However, the announcement, made in a video posted on social media, did not indicate Mr. Phillips’ withdrawal from the presidential race.
“I found it almost impossible to raise enough to do this campaign the way I want,” Mr. Phillips said in the video. “And today, sadly, I had to announce layoffs to a lot of my staff members.”
Mr. Phillips has positioned himself as a younger alternative to President Joe Biden, 81, when he launched his campaign in October last year, late in the season. His platform focused on “relieving the economic hardship felt by working families” and “repairing our broken political system,” according to his website.
Nationally, Mr. Phillips’s polling percentage is less than 5%. The three-term Democratic congressman was not on the Nevada ballot and lost to President Biden in the Democratic primary in both New Hampshire and South Carolina.
In order to send a message to President Biden, who did not attend the state’s primary, former President Donald Trump urged Democrats in New Hampshire to vote for Mr. Phillips in January. After national Democrats decided to move their first primary to South Carolina, which has a more racially diverse population, President Biden did not register for the New Hampshire primary.
On January 22, Mr. Phillips chastised President Biden for not aggressively campaigning in New Hampshire during a campaign rally in Rochester.
Mr. Phillips has been left off the Democratic primary ballots in some states. He has filed challenges against these.
In the video, Mr. Phillips reflected on the “joyful” aspects of his campaign journey, commending the thousands of Americans across the political spectrum who expressed frustration with the current political landscape and a desire for a fresh perspective.
