UNPRECEDENTED?: Dean Phillips Calls On More Democrats To 'Join Me' In 2024 Presidential Race

Forbes Breaking News

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) speaks to reporters after launching his 2024 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Transcript

00:00 remarkable ways that we need more of. We need strength and we need empathy.

00:03 Have you been speaking with him?

00:05 I've tried and I'll keep trying.

00:07 Is it a slight contradiction to say this isn't about the presidency, I'm not going to focus on that,

00:12 while also saying it's about a generational change?

00:14 I mean, you know what you're getting...

00:15 What's the difference there?

00:16 Well, I will very clearly. When I entered Congress, I was one of the class of 2018 that felt it was

00:22 time for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to move on. She and her leadership team, three members of the

00:27 leadership team, good people, had been in their positions for 20 years. And what happens when

00:31 you're in positions for 20 years? You preclude an entire generation of Americans from participating.

00:36 That's why I believe in term limits. Yes, I'm a Democrat who believes in term limits because

00:40 it opens places and spaces for the next generation and it encourages and promotes elected officials

00:48 to be principled instead of self-preserved.

00:54 The presidency does have term limits.

00:55 I'm talking about writ large, okay? And as for generational change, we have some of the

01:01 oldest generations serving in our Congress right now. We've had a death this year. We had one on

01:07 the Supreme Court. The tragedies of some of these things, both human, are deeply affecting to our

01:12 democracy. There's nothing that the president can do about his age. He's a human being and a good

01:18 one. But I'll let American voters decide whether or not. Like I said,

01:24 he's a human being and we understand how human life works and he's a good man. I'm not running

01:29 against the president. I'm running for the future. People want it. They're hungry for it. I'm hearing

01:33 it all over. And all I'm doing, all I'm doing is giving democracy a chance. And if people want to

01:40 stand in the way of it, if people find that threatening, if people find options and choices

01:44 and freedoms somehow counter to their principles, then we have different principles. We need more

01:49 people. And by the way, I'll extend the invitation right now. Join me. All the others who have been

01:56 thinking about this. It's not too late. Join me. Join me. You can name the names. I don't care.

02:03 This is not about who, it's about the what. The what is participating.

02:06 They're not up until five o'clock today.

02:08 Well, it's only a couple hours from Detroit.

02:10 Are you running for re-election for the House?

02:11 Well, I intend to win this election, the nomination, and then win the presidency.

02:15 So that will obviously have bearing on whether I file in Minnesota again in June.

02:19 By the way, I've encouraged primary competitors to enter my race in Minnesota because it's healthy.

02:26 It's healthy. And I wish more candidates and I wish more people spent time recruiting,

02:31 recruiting people to serve in public office than trying to diminish their chances.

02:37 That's why we're in this situation, guys. It's so basic.

02:40 Are you going to campaign for the president in Minnesota?

02:43 I'll campaign for president wherever I can. And that means a lot of states. And that's why I got

02:47 that little bus over there. And we're going to go all over the place.

02:49 What is the reaction from your Democratic colleagues since you announced?

02:53 Have you gotten support? Are they upset? Are they frustrated? What have you been hearing from them?

02:58 I think there's an analogy here in how different private conversations are in Congress versus

03:02 public statements. And I think I'll leave it at that. That's what I'm running against.

03:06 Why are you signing Kim's name? I think that's Biden's signature. Echoing him?

03:13 You know, the Republican Party doesn't own the flag or patriotism or freedom. Joe Biden doesn't

03:18 own keep the faith, right? That's part of the problem right now, too. You know, nobody owns

03:23 anything like that in America. We share it and we should all be keeping the faith. And that's why.

03:27 And by the way, like I said, I admire Joe Biden. And by the way, we need to keep the faith right

03:32 now about this election, because if it doesn't turn out the way it needs to,

03:36 I don't know about 2028. All the people waiting for 2028,

03:41 I wish they'd think twice and wish they had thought twice because it's existential. That's

03:46 why we should keep the faith about this election. Have you recruited any people to run in your

03:51 congressional seat? I've had wonderful conversations with a couple candidates.

03:57 I've been forthright with them, people I admire. And I'll leave it at that because I don't want

04:01 to refer to students who they are, excuse me. But yes, because I actually how funny is that?

04:07 Am I the first to ever recruit people to run against me? Maybe that's what our country needs

04:12 a little bit more. So you haven't ruled out potentially running, going back running for

04:15 congressional seat in June or anything like that. And that determination will be made both on

04:19 the quality and capacity of those who might seek that position. I believe in term limits.

04:24 I believe change is good. I believe Congress is filled with way too many people who spend all

04:30 their time protecting their seat instead of protecting all of us. And I think we need change.

04:34 And I got to walk that talk and I plan to, I promise you, I promise. I think the maximum

04:39 service in Congress and in Supreme Court should be 18 years. Congressman, why did you wait so long

04:43 to file and announce your presidential? Because I spent the better part of a year encouraging

04:48 others to jump in. I spent the better part of a year trying to inspire the president to pass

04:52 the torch in a thoughtful manner. I was clearly unable to succeed in that endeavor. And three

04:58 weeks ago, I had to make a decision about the future. I lost my dad in Vietnam. He literally

05:04 gave his life for us defending freedom. And I would never have been able to sit down and be

05:09 quiet and get back in line the way that everybody in Washington wanted me to do and have a clear

05:14 conscience moving forward in light of what is going to happen if we maintain the status quo.

05:19 And that's why I'm calling for a new declaration of independence against the fear and against the

05:24 status quo. And you know what? Give someone new a chance who's never, no one's ever offered this

05:31 to the country in recent years. The thing we need the most we've ever needed, which is decency,

05:37 integrity, and invitation instead of confrontation. If we keep fighting ourselves,

05:42 all those battle flags I just saw inside, there are going to be a whole lot more of them.

05:48 In that state house, there are going to be a lot more dead Americans all around this country

05:52 and probably around the world. That's how consequential this is. And that's why it's time

05:55 for change. I'm the ranking member of the Middle East subcommittee on foreign affairs. I work very

06:05 closely with Joe Wilson and my colleagues. I believe very, very deeply that the solution is

06:10 upon us. The tragedy, the tragedy that we just saw, the loss of life that Hamas caused, terrorist

06:17 organization caused amongst Israelis, the loss of life we're seeing of innocent Palestinians in Gaza,

06:21 is tragic, horrifying, and as any human being, I would hope would feel the same way. The only way

06:27 we're going to fix that is to engage with the Saudis, encourage a peace deal with the Israelis,

06:32 and make a core element of that. The core element is a two-state solution with peace, security,

06:39 and opportunity, both for Israelis and Palestinians. I remind everybody, Israel is a multicultural

06:43 society, home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. I envision there will be a Palestinian state that

06:48 will be home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. I believe we should be dedicating and redoubling

06:53 our efforts to that. It's possible. My generation, my generation, our generation is ready to do it.

06:58 I see the path. I've been working on it. I will continue that, and that will be a hallmark of my

07:02 presidency. Is there anything that you would do differently than what Biden's been doing on the

07:05 Middle East in the last three weeks? I think this would be a terribly inappropriate time to comment

07:10 on the president's handling of overseas events during war. I see too many of my fellow candidates

07:17 for president demeaning, diminishing him. I think it's despicable, disgusting. I do have a few

07:21 differences of opinion on policy and strategy, but this is not the time to address that.

07:25 When we move beyond the acute elements of this, the circumstance, when there is a relative calm,

07:37 that we cannot then miss an opportunity once again to make something happen. America has

07:43 withdrawn from a lot of the world. We spend a lot less on diplomacy than we spend on our military.

07:47 Look at the numbers. You mean after Israel invades Gaza?

07:49 I mean that after the circumvention. Israel has got to eliminate, not just Israel,

07:54 the free world must eliminate Hamas. Hamas is the enemy of Israel. Hamas is the enemy of

07:58 Palestinians. That is true. I care deeply about Palestinian lives. I care deeply about Israeli

08:04 lives. I am so sick of the bloodshed. By the way, we just lost 18 Americans right here in Maine.

08:12 18 Americans slaughtered by the same weapons that our young men and women are carrying around the

08:18 world in defense of us. Those same weapons are killing us. Let's talk about home first,

08:24 is what I would say. Let's talk about people who are struggling and can't afford their rent and

08:27 can't afford their food, don't have health care. If they did, they can't even access it.

08:32 We're the only country in the world with the great blessings that we have and also the only

08:36 country in the world with those great challenges. We've got to do something about it. I don't have

08:40 all the answers. I've got some, but I'm going to invite Republicans and Democrats to help

08:46 generate those answers together in a way that this country needs so desperately and has never seen

08:50 before. And that's my promise. Okay, I got to run. Thank you all.

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