Report: Angie Craig echoes Phillips' call for new leadership in Democratic party
MINNEAPOLIS -- Another Minnesota Democrat is reportedly calling for new leadership in the party just days after U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips told reporters that he didn't want President Joe Biden to run for a second term in 2024.
At Farmfest in southern Minnesota on Tuesday, Rep. Angie Craig (2nd District) joined Phillips in calling for a "new generation of leadership" up and down the ballot, MinnPost reported. However, she did not specifically comment on whether she thought Biden should run for a second term.
Biden, 79, is struggling with poor approval ratings, and Democrats are beginning to publicly express concern about him being at the top of the ballot in 2024.
Last Thursday, Phillips (3rd District) made national headlines when he told WCCO Radio that he didn't want Biden to run for a second term.
"I have respect for Joe Biden. I think he has -- despite some mistakes and some missteps, despite his age, I think he's a man of decency, of good principle, of compassion, of empathy, and of strength. But to answer your question directly, which I know is quite rare, uh no, I don't," Phillips told Chad Hartman. "I think the country would be well served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats to step up."
While other Democrats have reportedly shared concerns privately about Biden running in 2024, Phillips was the first Democrat in Congress to call publicly for Biden to clear the way for another candidate.
The president and his aides have pushed back at the idea that he wouldn't run for a second term, and most Democrats have said they would support him should he run again.
Last week, a CNN poll found the 75% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters want the party to nominate someone else.
(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN contributed to this report.)
