Phillips heralds Wisconsin Supreme Court order to put him on ballot: ‘Thank goodness’

Democratic presidential primary candidate Dean Phillips celebrated a Wisconsin Supreme Court order to let him on the Badger State’s Democratic primary ballot Friday.

“Thank goodness democracy is being protected by the judiciary, because our political parties are eroding it right in front of our eyes,” Phillips said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. I’ll keep exposing the truth and saying the quiet part out loud. Please join me.”

Democrats on a bipartisan presidential selection committee should have talked about including the Minnesota representative, the Friday ruling said. Due to the court’s decision, he will be on the ballot for the primary in early April.

Phillips has pledged to file challenges in multiple states with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after he was shut out from the states’ ballots.

“Unilaterally taking away the right of rank and file Democrats, including a disproportionate number of Black voters demanding a more affordable America, is reprehensible,” Phillips said in a statement to Semafor. “If Joe Biden is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump and lead us to a safer, more affordable future, let him compete for that privilege without his supporters suppressing and disenfranchising millions of voters.”

In late January, Phillips filed a lawsuit with the Wisconsin Elections Committee insisting that he be added after an early January meeting. He said he reached criteria to be allowed on the ballot that state a candidate should be “generally advocated or recognized in the national news media.”

Phillips hit back at those who think he is undermining President Biden’s election chances, saying they are overestimating his power last month.

“[Y]ou’re giving me a lot more power than I really have,” Phillips said during an interview with NBC News White House Correspondent Mike Memoli. “The reason I did this is because Joe Biden cannot win this next election. He was the only one that could have won in 2020. He’s probably the only one that can lose this in 2024.”