Rep. Dean Phillips, an early candidate against President Joe Biden's reelection bid, said Wednesday that Democrats must reassess what happened that led to Vice President Kamala Harris' loss, including that the Democratic Party did not allow for a real primary against Biden.
"Our country is predicated on competition and encouraging participation, not suppressing it," the Minnesota Republican told Newsmax's "National Report." "Americans do like selection. We like elections, and I think that indeed was one of the problems this year."
Earlier in the election cycle, Biden faced challenges from Phillips and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but Phillips noted that the Democratic Party refused to allow him to debate the president.
Kennedy, meanwhile, mounted an independent bid and eventually endorsed Trump rather than Harris after she was selected to run in Biden's place.
"I remind everybody watching right now that our electoral system is essentially a monopoly," Phillips said. "The Democratic and Republican parties, in effect, work together to protect a duopoly and their private corporations, they can do things the way they want, not accountable to voters, and that is something I think that we should be reckoning with."
Phillips did not seek reelection this year to his House seat, and told Newsmax that now he plans to spend some time exposing "the truth about how the system works."
"I believe competition participation makes things better whether you're a Democrat, Republican, conservative, or progressive," he said. "The answer is, of course, a more transparent, open process, I believe, that would have yielded better candidates for Democrats here in 2024."
Republicans, meanwhile, hosted a primary and debates. Trump "chose not to attend," Phillips said, "but he won the nomination and then ultimately went on to win the presidency."
Phillips added that if he had the opportunity to debate Biden during the primary, "it might have exposed his decline sooner than many of my fellow Democrats either recognized or wanted to acknowledge."
Instead, Biden remained in the race until after his issues came to light during his first debate with Trump. After he dropped out, Harris was tagged to fill his campaign spot rather than pick a new candidate through an open primary.
Primaries and debates also allow candidates to be better vetted by the public, and "when any party blocks out, suppresses, or prevents competition and participation, that be definition is a knock against democracy," said Phillips.
He added that he wanted to congratulate Trump, but said he wishes he'd been more willing to debate.
"That's part of the American system, and we need to be doing more of it, not less, and that's a big part of our problem right now," the congressman said.
Meanwhile, Phillips said he believes the news media is more focused on "angertainment" than information, and that Democrats protected Biden from scrutiny.
"I'm not going to tell you that my Democratic colleagues were not aware," he said. "We were all aware of his decline. I do not consider it cognitive. It's physical and communicative. This is a man in his 80s now ... I'm disappointed that those who I believe knew better didn't stand up and do what I did, which is simply acknowledge the truth."
Americans can "smell dishonesty easily," Phillips added. "I think that's fair to say about President Trump as well. Authenticity always wins. Hiding, blocking, and not acknowledging the truth is never going to be a good policy for success in politics, and I think there will be some really important lessons learned about why last night went the way it did."
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