Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips on Friday pledged to stay in the 2024 race despite the fact that his campaign laid off several members of staff, calling for more donations to help advance his candidacy.
In a video posted on his social media accounts, Phillips recognized the uphill battle his campaign has to climb as he claimed it’s been hard to compete in the primary “when your party’s working against you.”
“I’ve really worked hard, put a lot of money in this myself,” the Minnesota Democrat said. “But I found it almost impossible to raise enough to do this campaign the way I want.”
Phillips added that this reality has forced him to make the difficult decision to downsize his team. Still, he pledged to remain in the race to offer an alternative to voters who don’t want to see a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
“Sadly I had to announce layoffs to a lot of my staff members, amazing people who gave up a lot personally and a lot professionally to join this remarkable campaign and it was a really tough day for all of us,” he said. “But I made a promise to them and I’m gonna make it to you, I’m not giving up. I’m going to continue!”
Phillips urged his supporters to financially contribute to his White House bid.
“If you still believe that change is possible and you still believe that we can do better, please consider investing in our campaign,” he said.
Phillips joined the presidential race in October, suggesting Biden is too old to run for reelection.
“I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country,” he told CBS News at the time. “But it’s not about the past, this is an election about the future.”
But his campaign has failed to gain traction with Democratic voters.
Phillips garnered just under 20% of the vote in New Hampshire where Biden managed to score a win despite his name not being on the ballot due to a dispute between the Democratic National Committee and state party officials.
In South Carolina, Phillips came third, trailing both Biden, who got over 96% of the vote, and self-help author Marianne Williamson, who has since withdrawn-from the contest.
A spokesperson for Phillips’ campaigntold Politico the candidate plans to stay in the primary until at least the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this summer. But Phillips has for now cancelled planned travel and will continue campaigning from Washington, D.C., the spokesperson added.
The next contest on the Democratic primary calendar is Michigan on Feb. 27
