Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee, confronted Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) on MSNBC Sunday about his longshot primary challenge to President Joe Biden.
“The chairman in me says, ‘What the hell are you doing? And why are you doing it?’” Steele, an MSNBC political analyst, asked the lawmaker on “The Weekend.”
He noted that the Democratic Party chose Biden as its nominee in 2020, and the incumbent just won South Carolina’s Democratic primary with 96% of the vote.
“So the question becomes: In reality, are you creating a drain in the process, prolonging the narratives around his age, prolonging the narratives around other things that people are distracted by with Joe Biden when the real threat is the man across the aisle?” Steele asked.
“And the polling shows at the end of the day, Donald Trump is going to lose to Joe Biden.”
Phillips insisted that, though he was “whooped” by Biden in South Carolina, the president is in a poor position to face off against Trump in a general election.
Phillips, who is in his third term as a congressman, has expressed admiration for Biden but argues he is too old for a second term.
He and Marianne Williamson, who also ran in 2020, have picked up very little support in their bids for the 2024 Democratic nomination. Phillips won less than 2% of the vote in South Carolina, coming in third behind Williamson.
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