Congressman Dean Phillips launches 'moon shot' primary challenge to Biden

Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips has filed a long-shot presidential bid on Friday after calling on Joe Biden to step aside.

While Mr Phillips is extremely unlikely to win, some see his announcement as a sign of growing Democratic dissatisfaction with Mr Biden.

For months, the 54-year-old ex-businessman has called for a "moderate" Democrat to run for President.

Only two other Democrats are already running to challenge Mr Biden.

Mr Phillips has served in the House of Representatives since 2019 and represents a mostly suburban district that includes parts of Minneapolis' outskirts.

On Friday, he formally filed papers to appear on the primary ballot in New Hampshire, the first US primary election.

In an interview with CBS, the BBC's US partner, Mr Phillips said that while he believes Mr Biden has done a "spectacular job", he is worried about his ability to win a nationwide general election against his likely competitor, former president Donald Trump.

"This is an election about the future," he said. "I will not sit still and not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying that we're going to be facing an emergency next November".

Minnesota's Dean Phillips had previously called on 'moderate' Democrats to take run for president.

A Gallup poll released this week showed that Mr Biden's job approval rating among Democrats fell 11% in the last month, to 75% - the worst of his presidency among Democrats. Overall, his approval rating stands at 37%, with only 5% of Republicans approving of his performance.

In New Hampshire, Mr Biden also drew the ire of some Democrats by diluting the state's influence in the 2024 primary calendar, which state party chairman Ray Buckley warned in a letter could lead to an "embarrassment" from "an insurgent candidate, serious or not".

Mr Biden, however, continues to have the backing of the overwhelming majority of establishment Democrats and donors.

In a Friday fundraising email for Mr Biden, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz seemed to take a subtle jab at Mr Phillips, saying that people in the state sometimes "make political side shows for themselves".

"One other thing is true of Minnesota: We love Joe Biden," Mr Walz added.

Ameshia Cross, a Democratic strategist, told the BBC that Mr Phillips presidential bid is a "moon shot" for a candidate with little or no name recognition outside his home state.

"Many people will announce that they're running for president just to be able to get media hits and to be able to elevate themselves in a way that simply being a Congress member never would do," she said.

While Ms Cross said it is "not unbeknownst to anyone that Biden's national poll numbers are not good", she cautioned against using them to make projections about the 2024 elections.

"I would argue that national poll numbers this far outside of an election cycle are typically not good for anyone," she said. "National polls mean nothing this far outside the race... there's a lot that can happen between now and November".

Two other Democrats so far plan to challenge Mr Biden in the primaries: self-help author Marianne Williamson and left-wing talk show host Cenk Uyghur.

Robert F Kennedy Jr has also initially planned to run as a Democrat, but later reversed course and said he would run as an independent candidate unaffiliated with either of the two main US political parties.