Dean Phillips (kind of) breaks his silence on Biden’s debate

Rep. Dean Phillips, who launched a long-shot presidential primary challenge against President Joe Biden, is keeping quiet for now.

The Minnesota Democrat was silent amid the Democratic freak-out over the president’s debate performance Thursday night. But Friday morning, he released a cryptic post on X: “Speak only if it improves upon the silence. -Gandhi,” Phillips wrote .

Phillips launched his quixotic White House bid last fall with a singular message: that Biden was a good man, but he would not be able to defeat former President Donald Trump in a general election matchup.

Fellow Democrats — and Democratic primary voters — wrote him off, chafing at the moderate member of Congress’ attacks on Biden’s age.

Before getting into the race himself, Phillips publicly urged for other Democrats to join the fray instead. In August, he called for a “moderate governor” to step up.

But on the trail, Phillips failed to gain momentum. He lost to a write-in campaign on behalf of Biden in New Hampshire. And in South Carolina, Biden won 96 percent of the vote, while Phillips failed to clear 2 percent.

He dropped out of the race in early March, throwing his support behind Biden. “Americans were demanding an alternative, and democracy demands options,” Phillips wrote at the time. “But it is clear that alternative is not me. And it is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to demonstrate what type of country America is and intends to be.”