Rep. Dean Phillips, an early primary candidate against Biden, said his voice and others were ignored

Most of the Sunday morning news and interview shows have been focused on why the Democrats did so poorly in last week’s election, in which Donald Trump won the presidency and the Republicans gained the majority in the Senate and will probably retain it in the House. 

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., a guest on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream, said his voice and tens of millions of other Americans’ voices were ignored, suppressed and disenfranchised in this year's presidential election. He announced in October 2023 that he was entering the Democratic primary race against President Joe Biden and in November that he was giving up his House seat after three terms. He said his voice was ignored. 

Phillips was one of a very few Democrats who called on Biden to drop out of the race and make room for a new generation, months before that actually happened. “My voice, yes, was ignored, but tens of millions of Americans’ voices were ignored and suppressed and disenfranchised,” Phillips said, according to The Hill. 

“I was not the only one that recognized what was likely to happen last week. I was the only one that was willing to say it live, and I think it is that culture of silence and pervasive incentives in our political system that is really costing our country and it’s not unique to one party or the other,” he said.

“No party has monopoly on ideas and I’m one of those getting sick and tired of it, trying to represent what I call the exhausted majority, center right, center left Americans who deserve better,” he said.

“But Congress can’t fix this, President Trump, President Biden cannot fix this. We got to start setting aside the nonsense, coming back together and elevating people of competence, decency and integrity so we can get our act together, because time is short, and the needs are significant,” Phillips continued.