Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) has apologized for underscoring criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris as he campaigns against her and President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.
“In the Atlantic, I shared kind words about Harris because that’s been my personal experience and I respect her,” Phillips wrote Thursday on social media. “I shouldn’t have referenced other people’s opinions. I own that and apologize to her and everyone who’s been affected by similar circumstances.”
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i owe an apology.
in the atlantic, i shared kind words about @VP harris because that’s been my personal experience and i respect her.
i shouldn’t have referenced other people’s opinions. i own that and apologize to her and everyone who’s been affected by similar circumstances.
— Congressman Dean Phillips 🇺🇸 (@deanbphillips) November 23, 2023
Phillips, who launched his long-shot bid against Biden and Harris last month, told the Atlantic unnamed people have complained to him that the vice president is “not well positioned” to be the president’s No. 2. Biden turned 81 this week and is the country’s oldest commander in chief.
“She is not well prepared, doesn’t have the right disposition and the right competencies to execute that office,” he said of Harris, citing others.
Phillips added he had personally “not seen those deficiencies” in Harris and had enjoyed his interactions with her.
Phillips was pressed earlier this week on why he repeated scrutiny of Harris if that had not been his impression of her.
“I did not articulate that distinctly. That was asked of me. Others have said that to the reporter in question,” Phillips told CNN. “What I’ve said is when I’ve been around her, I’ve been impressed. She’s been kind. She’s been thoughtful and decent.”
“But what I’m trying to explain to Americans, whether it’s relative to the president’s age or the standing of Vice President Harris amongst Americans, if Democrats wish to beat Donald Trump … this is not about protecting people. It’s about protecting the principle of democracy,” he said.
Phillips’s campaign is premised on the third-term congressman’s argument that while Biden is a “good person,” polling suggests the country does not want him to be president again. He had reached out to others who could have been primary challengers but announced his own bid after they declined.
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Phillips, a millionaire who was the former owner of Talenti, said he did not contact Harris as one of those possible challengers.
“No, you know, what I’m saying actually and what I’ve said directly to many and would actually say to her if she was right next to me — run,” he continued on CNN. “The water [is] warm. We live in democracy.”
