'Emergency': Democrat announces primary challenge to Joe Biden

A Democratic congressman announced late Thursday that he is formally mounting a primary challenge to President Joe Biden.

Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who last year angrily confronted a Republican colleague who compared Washington D.C.'s vaccination passport system to the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews, has been teasing such an announcement for weeks.

He has now finalized the move, according to CBS News.

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"Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota has decided to challenge President Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination and will launch his 2024 campaign on Friday in New Hampshire, where he will file to appear on the state's primary ballot," the outlet reported.

The article continues with quotes from Phillips.

''I am. I have to,' Phillips told CBS News chief election & campaign correspondent Robert Costa in an exclusive interview for 'CBS Mornings' that will air on Friday, when asked whether he is making a late entry into the Democratic race."

Phillips goes on to say he admires Biden and thinks he has done a great job for the country, but that he's choosing to challenge the president anyway, purportedly because of polling numbers.

"In the interview, Phillips, 54, said he admires Mr. Biden, 80, but believes it is time for a new generation of Democrats to lead the party, especially with former President Donald Trump poised to potentially be the Republican presidential nominee," according to the CBS report. "Phillips said he has studied polling data and is alarmed about the prospect of Trump beating Mr. Biden, should the 2024 election end up becoming rematch of the 2020 race."

"I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country," Phillips said, according to the network. "But it's not about the past. This is an election about the future."

Phillips called the plan a preparation for an upcoming "emergency."

Read the full article here.