Dean Phillips Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Biden

Democratic presidential primary challenger U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) speaks to supporters during a campaign rally on Jan. 20, 2024, in Nashua, N.H. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) has dropped out of the race for the Democrat presidential nomination and thrown his support behind President Joe Biden, following a lackluster Super Tuesday performance.

“It is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to demonstrate what type of country America is and intends to be,” he posted on March 6 on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Minnesota congressman failed to win a single delegate in the campaign, and received less than 8 percent of the vote in his home state’s primary; President Biden has so far won more than 1,400 delegates. In Minnesota’s Democrat primary, “Uncommitted,” a protest option for those seeking a ceasefire in Gaza, collected 11 delegates.

He made the announcement on a local Minnesota radio station, WCCO, where he had earlier floated the idea of a unity ticket with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who also has dropped out.

“Let’s use invitation, not confrontation, to welcome Haley supporters, Trump supporters, and Uncommitted supporters to get this done,” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Ms. Haley hasn’t endorsed the effective standard-bearer for her party, former President Donald Trump, who continues to draw closer to being the GOP’s nominee.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does,” she said.

Mr. Phillips’s X post began by lauding President Biden.

“In 2011, I hosted then-VP Biden at my home. Most notable was his empathy and kindness to my daughters and the catering staff, with whom he sat and had ice cream [surprise-surprise],” he wrote.

The departure has left the Democrat field smaller than ever as President Biden comes closer to being the nominee for his party.

Marianne Williamson, another minor Democrat candidate, recently relaunched her bid. Her latest post on X references Gabriel Shipton’s plans to wear a “Free Julian Assange” pin to President Biden’s State of the Union address on March 7. Mr. Shipton is the half-brother of Wikileaks founder Mr. Assange, whom the Biden administration continues to pursue for allegedly receiving and publishing classified U.S. documents.

“I hope President Biden sees it,” she wrote.