“If a 54-year-old like Dean Phillips takes on an AI challenge, he’ll actually be able to sleep better at night,” Yang said. “That’s in stark contrast to the people who are in government right now who, frankly, think they’re going to be there whether they solve our problems or not.”
But it’s unclear what Phillips actually has to do with AI, and until recently he hasn’t talked about the technology in any detail. Mr. Phillips is not a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, nor is he a member of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus (although he is a member of Congress). Co-founder, House Small Business Committee, Stakeholder Capitalism Caucus). When deepfake robocalls were circulating in New Hampshire over the weekend, Phillips said: The event said was an example of why regulations are needed now, but the lawmaker does not appear to be actively involved or co-sponsor. AI regulation efforts in parliament. The Deanbot experiment was a notable AI misfire. In fact, Phillips calls for: Unbridled AI innovationand his campaign website is full of plans to create an artificial intelligence department.
To Silicon Valley, Phillips, the billionaire heir to his family’s liquor business, seems malleable in other ways.After Pershing Square CEO and anti-DEI activist Bill Ackman pledged $1 million to a PAC supporting Phillips, his Website edited Remove the term “DEI.” Phillips made the decision after receiving criticism from Ackman in the billionaire’s X (formerly Twitter) space with Elon Musk. (Mr. Ackman said Mr. Phillips has been “educated” on the issue; Mr. Phillips’ campaign said he was not influenced by outside contributions.) Earlier this week, Mr. Phillips teeth I got an idea It was accused of running on a third-party “unlabeled” ticket, which it later quickly retracted after receiving outrage.
When asked why Mr. Attleman and Mr. Ackman are supporting his campaign, Mr. Phillips countered, “I have high regard for both of them.”
Phillips claims that major Democratic donors have been told not to attend his events or participate in his campaign. Democratic primaries in Florida and North Carolina have been canceled. New Hampshire’s attorney general has sent a cease-and-desist order to the Democratic National Committee, saying it violates voter suppression laws by telling voters that the state’s primary election is “meaningless.”
All of this, Phillips said, is part of an effort to suppress Democratic campaigning. “People who worshiped me just three months ago now think I’m the devil,” Phillips told WIRED. “Because I have the audacity to practice democracy…I expected the Democratic Party to live up to its claims of competition, participation, and debate. I saw nothing but oppression of all three. I have never had one.”
The crackdown led Mr. Phillips to hire someone with experience fighting the DNC as a senior adviser. Jeff Weaver ran Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and was a senior aide to the senator for decades.
“Trump waves it around like a club, right? Like, ‘I’m going to get you, you’re going to pay, and I’m going to punish you,'” Weaver said. He talked about his thoughts on how he approaches this. “You don’t do that on the Democratic side. They come up behind you and slit your throat, as opposed to hitting you in the forehead with a club like Trump did.”
Mr. Weaver laid out Phillips’ campaign strategy. The idea was that Phillips would raise his profile by doing well in the New Hampshire primary, and then run in the Michigan primary a month later, which Biden would win. reversed the state Phillips’ campaign believes that a strong showing in battleground states could highlight Biden’s vulnerabilities.
Mr. Krysilov and other Phillips supporters point to Mr. Biden’s low favorability ratings as evidence that Democrats are sleepwalking toward defeat in November. The president’s approval rating in December was near the lowest level of his presidential term. according to Reuters.
So far, Phillips’ supporters are happy with his results. “I think he did pretty well considering very few independents voted in the Democratic primary,” said Krisiloff of Never Back Down PAC. “Even with Haley dropping out, I think future states could be even closer as independents vote Democratic.”