Dem lawmaker on Dean Philips: ‘He better keep the VP’s name out of his mouth’ 

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) went after presidential candidate and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) on Tuesday for his criticisms of Vice President Harris.

“Apparently Dean Phillips is floundering so hard that he’s now resorting to attacking Vice-President Harris,” Garcia said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “He better keep the [vice president’s] name out of his mouth and apologize.” 

“No one will support him so he’s going to torch his entire reputation on the way out. Sad to see,” Garcia continued.

In an interview published in The Atlantic on Tuesday, the long-shot Democratic presidential candidate aimed criticism at Harris, saying based on the opinion of others that she isn’t right for the job.

“I hear from others who know her a lot better than I do that many think she’s not well positioned,” Phillips said of Harris. “She is not well prepared, doesn’t have the right disposition and the right competencies to execute that office.” 

“It’s pretty clear that she’s not somebody people have faith in,” he added, referencing her low approval rating.

Phillips padded his position, noting that he’s “enjoyed” every interaction with Harris and that he has “not seen those deficiencies” in his “personal experience.”

Phillips entered the presidential race last month to the surprise and irritation of most Democrats, who view his candidacy as only hurting President Biden’s reelection chances against his likely opponent, former President Trump.

The Biden campaign has mostly ignored Phillips, and the national Democratic Party has refused to even let him debate the president.

Phillips has painted Biden as unable to lead at his advanced age: 81 years old as of this week. 

“I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country. But it’s not about the past,” Phillips said in his campaign announcement. “This is an election about the future.”

But polling shows little support for Phillips, who was a mostly unknown member of Congress before he jumped into the race. 

In an NBC News poll earlier this month, he garnered just 4 percent support among Democrats, significantly behind self-help guru Marianne Williamson at 7 percent, let alone Biden’s nearly 70 percent mark.