Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman pledges to donate $1 million to Dean Phillips' presidential campaign as he calls on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race.
Ackman's remarks were made in a lengthy post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday. Phillips had launched a largely symbolic primary bid against the current sitting president last October.
In his post, the Pershing Square Capital Management founder said that the $1 million pledge is by far the largest investment he has ever made in someone running for office. He noted that he was donating a large amount of money at a high-risk but critically important moment for Phillips' campaign.
The announcement of the pledge also comes on the same day that Ackman argued that President Biden is already too old to run for re-election. His remarks came during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawkbox" where he talked about his ongoing feud with Harvard University.
Ackman argued that a big part of the reason why there are issues in the world geopolitically is that Biden is perceived as a "weak president." The hedge fund manager said that the Democrat will only become even weaker with time, as per the New York Post.
In his social media post, the billionaire made the case for a Phillips presidency and went into great detail about the 54-year-old's background and business acumen. He called the primary challenger a "first-class human being and person of character."
He also brushed off polling that showed the three-term congressman's upstart primary candidacy trailing the president by 67%. Ackman insisted that Phillips has a "credible path to winning the nomination" despite what the oddsmakers may think.
Ackman wrote that Biden is polling poorly against former United States President Donald Trump, noting that his numbers are only going to get worse as he gets older. He also noted that there is a reasonable chance that Biden is forced to withdraw for health reasons.
Challenging Joe Biden
He argued that as Phillips continues to rise in the polls as Biden deteriorates, the Democratic Party will have to choose a candidate that can be the Republican nominee. He predicts that when the time comes to choose, the party will choose Phillips over the current president, according to Fox Business.
Ackman also explained that for Phillips' bid to best Biden to become successful, he would need to perform well in the New Hampshire primary that is scheduled on Jan. 23. He noted that this is the reason why he was frontloading his investment in Phillips' campaign now and urges others to invest in the same manner.
Despite the billionaire's remarks, a New Hampshire poll last week showed that 69% of likely Democratic primary voters plan to support Biden while only 7% plan to vote for Phillips, said Axios.
In response to weak polling numbers in some areas, Ackman touted Phillips' rise in New Hampshire primary polls. He noted that the Democratic challenger went from zero to 26% in a matter of weeks. His remarks came as nobody attended Phillips' Manchester, New Hampshire outdoor campaign on Jan. 9.
