Dean Phillips' presidential campaign 'baffles' fellow Democrats, media

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Dean Phillips makes presidential primary challenge against Biden official

FOX News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has the latest on Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., announcing his presidential bid on 'Special Report.'

Rep. Dean Phillips,' D-Minn., presidential bid has been met with a lukewarm reception and raised eyebrows from his fellow Democrats and liberal media that wants to see the president re-elected.

Phillips, a millionaire businessman and House Democrat serving in his third term, announced his primary challenge against President Biden last Thursday.

"I am excited to announce my candidacy for President in 2024. It’s time to put our country back together again – and use our differences to make us stronger. It’s time to repair America," Phillips said in a video posted on social media.

But while his fellow Democrats have spoken highly of his character, they have been sharing their concerns with the press.

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NBC News called Phillip's campaign "quixotic" in a report that quoted Democrats who said they're "baffled" he decided to get into the race.

"He does have a very good heart. And I believe that in his heart, he thinks this is the right thing to do. But it’s quite the opposite," one House Democrat close to Phillips said, according to NBC News. "It’s destructive. He’s essentially torpedoing his career completely and destroying any goodwill he has within the Democratic Party. And he’s got no path — there’s no path. So this is an exercise in futility."

Another Democrat called his bid a "head scratcher."

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., is seen outside the House Democratic Caucus leadership election in Longworth Building on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Other colleagues had reportedly positive things to say about Phillips personally, but still questioned his career move, saying it would be a "political dead end." He had recently been elected to the leadership team as one of the co-chairs of House Democrats’ policy and communications operation, but resigned in the wake of his call for a primary challenge against Biden.

"The View" co-host Ana Navarro agreed that Phillips was one of the nice guys, but in the same breath she suggested he was "arrogant" for his late push for the presidency. She added that the 54-year-old congressman may be going through a "midlife crisis."

"He’s a very wealthy guy who by all accounts is very nice," she said on Monday's show. "His colleagues in Congress say good things about him, like he’s a wealthy guy in his 50s having a midlife crisis and I guess instead of buying a Corvette or a yacht, he’s running for president. Hey, different strokes for different folks."

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Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota files to place his name on New Hampshire's Democratic primary ballot, as he launches a 2024 Democratic nomination challenge to President Biden, at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H. on Oct. 27, 2023. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

In recent interviews, Phillips has said he's not just running against Biden, but against the Democratic establishment, going so far as to call the process "rigged."

"Well, the good news, Michael, is thank goodness, we still live in a country voters make the decision," he told CNN’s Michael Smerconish on Saturday. "If they want, this is a choice. Now, I’ve got the Democratic National Committee competing against me, an extraordinarily large machine. Of course, it’s rigged against any challenger candidate under any circumstance."

"I’m not running against President Biden," he also said. "I admire him. I’m running for the future."

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Phillips used the same line on NBC's Kristen Welker, who pushed back on his argument.

"Respectfully, you are literally running against President Biden," Welker said, challenging him to tell voters what his "major point of difference" is with President Biden.

"I’m not running against President Biden," Phillips reiterated. "I’m running for the majority of Americans, who want somebody different." He added that he’s running because many lawmakers "aren’t listening" to Americans who "want change."

A recent Gallup poll found an 11-point decline in Biden's approval among Democrats. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Huffington Post described the representative's reasoning as "bizarre."

Phillips' primary challenge comes as the 80-year-old president continues to struggle with his approval ratings. A Gallup poll on Thursday found a recent 11-point decline in Biden's approval among Democrats. Among all registered voters surveyed, 37 percent of voters polled said they were happy with his performance. 

Biden has faced minimal opposition for the nomination thus far. One of the other Democrats to throw their hat in the ring, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently pulled out and announced he would run as an independent.

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The Phillips campaign didn't respond to a request for comment.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.