Announcement Phillips officially announced his candidacy on October 27, 2023, in
Concord, New Hampshire. Phillips' announcement of his candidacy sparked pushback from his House colleagues, such as Representative
Pramila Jayapal. On October 29, 2023, during an interview on
NBC's “
Meet the Press”, Jayapal stated about Phillips' candidacy that, “Everyone's got the right to run, but I'm sorry, I have no idea what he is running on that is different from what President Biden is running on. He took the same bold stances that President Biden has taken in this country on domestic issues. And I really don't see what he is doing.”
Staff and advisors Phillips hired
Jeff Weaver, a top consultant for
Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns, as a senior strategist. His senior staff also included Zach Graumann, who had served as campaign manager on
Andrew Yang's 2020 presidential campaign. Schmidt said the super PAC would support Phillips through advertising in
New Hampshire,
South Carolina, and
Michigan. Phillips' campaign reportedly struggled to secure quality vendors and consultants due to fears that they would lose out on major Democratic clients for stepping out against their party.
Campaign events In November 2023, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at
Dartmouth College and the Dartmouth Political Union co-hosted a discussion with Phillips as part of their "Path to the Presidency" speaker series to discuss his campaign and policy positions. In New Hampshire, Phillips hit the campaign trail with a “Dean Phillips for President” bus, and his 1960
International Harvester milk truck, dubbed the “government repair truck,” made an appearance repainted with “Dean Phillips for President.” Phillips said his campaign depended on alternative media platforms to get his message across after being stonewalled by
MSNBC and
CNN, which haven't afforded him an interview after providing a town hall for every Republican primary challenger to Trump. On November 3, Phillips appeared as a guest on an episode of “
Real Time with Bill Maher.” Comedian
Bill Maher lauded Phillips but stopped short of a full endorsement. On November 11, Phillips joined the Prof G Pod with
Scott Galloway podcast for an interview. On November 17, Phillips joined the
All-In podcast for an interview. On November 18, Phillips discussed the case for his campaign at the 2023 Blue Jamboree rally hosted by the
Charleston County Democratic Party in
South Carolina. On November 30, Phillips visited the
Pod Save America studio to discuss his run against Biden in the Democratic primary. On December 4, Phillips spoke at
Franklin Pierce University in
Rindge, New Hampshire, for its Pizza and Politics event. On December 5, Phillips spoke to college students at
Keene State College as part of the college's American Democracy Project. On December 6, Phillips spoke at a cannabis dispensary in
Maine, where he said that Biden was on the wrong side of history," referring to Biden's lack of action to legalize marijuana at the federal level. On December 8, Phillips met with voters at a veterans' home in
Tilton, New Hampshire and at a town hall in
Exeter, New Hampshire. During an
X Spaces forum, Phillips said that, in his first 100 days as president, he intends to build "the most extraordinary
bipartisan cabinet in American history." As for other first 100-day priorities, Phillips also said he intended to use “
zero-based budgeting” and hire an international consulting firm to conduct a “top-down assessment” of the federal government. During a January trip to New Hampshire, Phillips remarked that he found both the city of Washington D.C. and the reluctance of his fellow Democrats to call on Biden not to run again to be distastefully insular and partisan. On January 12, Phillips made a guest appearance on
The Breakfast Club radio show. On January 15, Phillips was interviewed by the
Fung Brothers on their
YouTube channel. On January 17, Phillips made a campaign stop at Post and Beam Brewing in
Peterborough, New Hampshire. On January 18, Phillips held campaign events in
Manchester and
Hanover, New Hampshire, with
2020 Democratic Primary presidential candidate Andrew Yang. On January 20, Phillips was a guest on the Modern Wisdom podcast with
Chris Williamson to discuss his campaign. On January 22, Phillips met with voters at a meeting of a
Rotary Club in
Nashua, New Hampshire. On January 27, President Biden and Phillips spoke about their bids for the Democratic Nomination at the South Carolina Democratic Party's First-in-the-Nation Celebration dinner in Columbia, South Carolina. In February, Phillips announced layoffs to a lot of his staff members and also canceled his plans to campaign in
Michigan. In January 2024, Phillips told
Axios that he thought it would be "impossible" for Biden to do the job of president for four more years, remarking that "At that stage of life, it is impossible ultimately to conduct, to prosecute the office of the American presidency in the way that this country in the world needs right now. That is an absolute truth." Phillips insisted throughout his campaign that the Democratic Party had become "delusional" for thinking that Biden could defeat former President Trump in a rematch. In a statement for a
Business Insider story, a Phillips spokesperson chastised his Democratic colleagues who spoke ill of Phillips' primary bid against Biden. "Rep. Phillips extends his thanks to his friends in Congress for their kind words and encouragement — it takes real courage on their part to sit back and reject democracy in favor of a coronation that will hand our country back over to Donald Trump," the spokesperson said.
Ballot access disputes with DNC and state Democratic parties Phillips filed his candidacy to make the
New Hampshire ballot on the last day candidates were able to file. Representative
Bennie Thompson called Phillips' decision to campaign in New Hampshire, rather than South Carolina, "disrespectful" to voters of color," while then-House Assistant Democratic Leader
Jim Clyburn stated that Phillips was not "respecting the wishes of the titular head of our Party." Due to his late entry, Phillips missed the deadline to file for the
Nevada primary. He was criticized by Nevada Senator
Catherine Cortez Masto, as well as Representative
Dina Titus, for skipping the state. Phillips objected to being left off the primary ballots of several states by their respective Democratic parties, including in
Florida,
North Carolina, and
Tennessee. Phillips filed challenges with the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) and those state parties and stated he was considering legal options to regain ballot access. In those states, there is no explicit filing process with the state Democratic parties to be placed on the ballot, only assumptions that campaigns would correspond with state parties to obtain ballot access for primaries. Phillips said that the DNC's letter stating that New Hampshire's presidential primary was 'meaningless' and not to seat any delegates to the convention based on the results was, “one of the most egregious affronts to democracy that I’ve ever seen in my entire lifetime as an American, period.” The
Florida Democratic Party's executive committee voted to cancel their primary at the end of October 2023 and declare Biden the winner ahead of a November 30 filing deadline, saying that they had not heard from Biden's challengers. Phillips criticized the cancelled primary as "intentional disenfranchisement" and a "blatant act of electoral corruption". Phillip's campaign showed
CNN copies of two letters that it had sent on November 7 to the Florida Democratic Party while the Florida Democratic Party said that it had not heard from them until November 22, while acknowledging that "there's no requirement for presidential candidates to do anything to get on the ballot". Under Florida law, state parties are allowed to decide who to include on their primary ballots. An independent, third party lawsuit has been filed against the Florida Democratic Party in order to include candidates other than Biden. In his statement to
Politico, when Phillips called the handling of the primary process by the Florida Democrats a “blatant act of electoral corruption” he then demanded Biden “condemn and immediately address” it. He also said, “Americans would expect the absence of democracy in
Tehran, not
Tallahassee. The intentional disenfranchisement of voters runs counter to everything for which our Democratic Party and country stand. Our mission as Democrats is to defeat
authoritarians, not become them.”
Andrew Yang who was assisting Phillips' cause told
ABC News, "What's happening in Florida is important -- do we live in a democracy or not? If the Democrats can simply cancel their own primaries they should change their name to something else." The court unanimously ruled on February 2 that Phillips should be included on the ballot. On November 9, 2023, asserting that his campaign was hampered by ballot access policies and a lack of candidate debates, Phillips issued an apology to
Bernie Sanders, regretting his previous disbelief towards
Sanders's 2016 campaign's complaints of biased rules by the DNC governing the presidential primary. When asked for comment, Sanders responded, "He's changed his views now that he's a candidate? I'm not getting involved in this." Phillips argued that the Democratic establishment was choking off his challenge because it couldn't accept that ‘Biden is going to get creamed’ by Trump in November. Phillips told the
New York Post that, “Those who endeavor to have the audacity to practice democracy as I have are excommunicated. There lies the biggest risk to democracy: When people with different perspectives... go against their party, we now live in an era where that not only is not welcomed but it results in banishment.” Phillips accused representatives of the Biden campaign of using access to pressure liberal media outlets into
blackballing and not platforming him.
The New York Times reported that during his campaign, Phillips found himself “
deplatformed,” taken off the ballot in some states, and rarely invited on television to make his case. Phillips said that, “I don't know how to better articulate these efforts than, yes, a threat to democracy by undermining it and suppressing it”.
Criticism of Kamala Harris In November 2023, Phillips questioned the competency of
vice president Kamala Harris should she
succeed to the presidency. He said while every interaction he'd had with her had been "thoughtful" interactions, others had told him "she's not well positioned, well prepared, of the right disposition, of the right competencies to execute that office." He also referenced Harris's approval ratings were lower than Biden's. Phillips received pushback from Harris supporters, including his congressional colleagues
Robert Garcia and
Lisa Blunt Rochester. The next day, Phillips apologized to Harris on social media for referencing opinions of others in contrast with his personal experience. In late October 2024, Phillips expressed his concern that the Harris campaign's focus on Trump, rather than her positive message, would result in a losing campaign, writing that “A billion dollars will have been wasted on losing voters by condemnation versus winning them by invitation. She just needed to be clear about what she believes, what she will do differently than Biden, and offer common sense solutions to our problems." ==Debates and forums==