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At a crucial moment in his longshot campaign, Democratic
presidential candidate Dean Phillips is stuck answering questions
about removing language about diversity, equity and inclusion from
his website.


Just days before the New Hampshire primary, Phillips spent Wednesday
on the defensive. In a television interview and on social media, he
insisted that the revision to his website had nothing to do with
pressure from a political donor.

The donor, billionaire investor Bill Ackman, had called Phillips’
language about DEI a “mistake” and said the candidate was “getting educated” on the issue, writing on X, the platform formerly known as
Twitter, several times that he expected Phillips would revise his
campaign website’s reference to DEI.

The uproar threatens to detract from Phillips’ message and further
weaken his campaign ahead of the vote in New Hampshire, where
Phillips has focused his challenge to President Joe Biden.

He sought to dismiss the DEI issue in a national television
appearance, arguing that the revised language was more reflective of
his views and accused the media of “lying” about the story.

“I believe in diversity, I believe in equity, I believe in
inclusion. But what has inclusion done for the Black community in
this country? What have both parties done to close the racial wealth
gap? I want to take it a step further,” Phillips said Wednesday
during an interview on CNN.

“Nobody buys me. If a donor came to me and told me to do something,
I would tell the donor to go pound sand,” he continued.


Ackman said in a post Wednesday night that he didn’t suggest the
change and Phillips “did that on his own initiative and without any
push from me.” He also said he had sent articles about DEI to
Phillips, who “still has much to learn about the problems with the
DEI ideology.”

Many Democrats have been critical of Phillips’ decision to challenge
Biden, attacking it as a reckless bid to undermine the president.
The DEI controversy drew a new round of sharp criticism from fellow
Democrats.

“I think that speaks volumes as to what his values are,” said Rep.
Barbara Lee, a prominent progressive running for Senate in
California.

“I’m disappointed,” said Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, adding that Democrats should not allow themselves to be pressured by the right
into “abandoning things we believe in.”



Phillips has grounded his campaign in New Hampshire, where Biden is
not on the ballot after he chose to skip the state for holding its
primary in violation of DNC rules governing the election calendar.
That raised fears among Biden’s allies that the state may provide an
opening for an embarrassing symbolic loss.

The president’s supporters are mounting a write-in campaign for him
to avoid such an outcome.

Phillips has presented himself to voters as a next-generation
pragmatist who would mount a more vigorous general-election campaign
against Donald Trump than Biden would. He has attracted interest
from some prominent people dissatisfied with both Biden and Trump,
including Ackman and Elon Musk.

But polls show support for Phillips hovering in the single digits
and teens among likely primary voters in New Hampshire, the fourth-
whitest state in the country. There’s little time left for Phillips
to connect with those voters before Tuesday’s primary — and the DEI
debate may prove a costly distraction.

Biden’s backers certainly hope that’s the case.

Kathy Sullivan, a longtime Democratic New Hampshire leader who has
helped spearhead the write-in effort for Biden in the state, called
Phillips’ website change “grotesque.”

But she said it was likely too late for the issue to fuel paid
advertising against the Minnesota lawmaker.

“From our social media perspective, talking to friends and
neighbors, it’s something I hope gets out there in a widespread
manner,” Sullivan said of the DEI story.

Nicholas Wu, Daniella Diaz and Elena Schneider contributed to this
report.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/17/dean-phillips-dei-cnn- interview-00136156

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