By Jarrett Renshaw
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressman Dean Phillips ended his long-shot challenge to President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary on Wednesday after failing to win any significant traction among voters with his message that the party needs a younger nominee.
"I ran for president in 2024 to resist Donald Trump again - because Americans were demanding an alternative, and democracy demands options," the Minnesota representative said in a statement. "But it is clear that alternative is not me."
Phillips, a wealthy businessman, made a late entrance into the Democratic primary race and was roundly rejected by many Democratic voters in early key races in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The 55-year-old lawmaker spent much of his campaign warning Democrats about Biden’s advanced age and his low approval ratings, arguing that backing Biden would endanger Democrats’ chances of holding onto the White House.
Phillips endorsed Biden on Wednesday, citing the contrast between the president and Trump - a position that Biden's campaign believes many voters will take in November.
“We only have two of them, and it’s going to be Donald Trump or Joe Biden,” Phillips said on The Chad Hartman Show on WCCO, a local Minnesota radio station.
"And while indeed I think the president is at a stage in life where his capacities are diminished, he is still a man of competency and decency and integrity. And the alternative, Donald Trump, is a very dangerous, dangerous man,” he said.
Phillips’ announcement came the same day former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley suspended her campaign, setting the stage for a rematch between Trump and Biden. Haley did not endorse Trump, but instead encouraged him to reach out and embrace her supporters.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Heather Timmons and Bill Berkrot)
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