Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said he’s contributing $1 million to support Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips to become the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
Phillips is a long-shot challenger to President Joe Biden in his reelection bid. But with polls showing sagging support for the president against leading Republican rival Donald Trump, some are seeking alternative candidates.
“I am doing so because I believe that Dean Phillips would be a truly outstanding President of the United States, and I believe he has a credible path to winning the nomination despite what the oddsmakers may think,” Ackman, 57, said in a post on the social media platform X late Saturday.
Ackman’s support of Phillips, 54, amplifies some of the worst fears of the Biden campaign: Donors and voters are unenthusiastic about reelecting the 81-year-old president. The activist investor has previously said that Biden’s legacy will suffer if he runs again and that he should step aside to make room for a younger generation of Democratic leaders.
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Ackman, who has donated to Republicans and Democrats in recent years, has become a highly polarizing figure in recent months following his campaign to combat antisemitism on college campuses, which included harsh criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The Pershing Square Capital Management founder used his X account — he has more than 1 million followers — to lead a successful campaign to force out Harvard University’s president Claudine Gay, the institution’s first black president, including by questioning her scholarship and qualifications for the role. He has said he will continue pushing for change in US higher education and now the media by setting up a think tank.
He’s giving the money to a political action committee that supports Phillips, after the candidate gave at a presentation to employees at the Pershing Square offices. Ackman said he was impressed by his entrepreneurial and business success, as well as his views on the economy and the border crisis.
The contribution is “by far the largest investment I have ever made in someone running for office,” he wrote.
He added in another post that he was “not opposed to voting for a Republican” and would vote for Phillips whatever the ticket he was on.
He joins a small but growing group of prominent supporters for Phillips. Mike Novogratz, chief executive officer of Galaxy Investment Partners, announced in December he plans to support Phillips.
“As Dean rises in the polls and Biden deteriorates, the Democratic party is going to having to choose a candidate that can beat the Republican nominee,” Ackman wrote in his post. “If by then, as I expect, Dean is polling substantially better than Biden against Trump, I predict that the party will choose Dean Phillips over Biden. The party will have no choice.”
A University of New Hampshire poll released Jan. 9 showed Biden notching 69% among likely primary voters in the state, while Phillips had 7%.
— With assistance from Amanda L Gordon
