How Biden’s longshot 2024 Democrat challengers differ on issues
- Williamson: ‘We need a fundamental economic U-Turn’
- Phillips: The border is ‘unmitigated, embarrassing, unforgivable’
- Uygur: Biden has been ‘monstrous’ at handling Israel and Gaza
(NewsNation) — More than half of Democrats said they want to see another Democrat challenge President Joe Biden in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, a Yahoo News/YouGov poll released in November found.
Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips, media host Cenk Uygur and author Marianne Williamson are presenting themselves as alternatives to the president and making a White House run.
But when it comes to the issues, where do they differ most from Biden?
For Williamson, she told NewsNation host Dan Abrams it’s the economy.
“President Biden is trying to alleviate the stress of millions and millions of Americans who are living at the effective and unjust economy. I want to end the injustice,” Williamson said. “He will do whatever he can to make life a little better for people, but only until the point where to go any further would challenge the profit maximization goals of the donor and billionaire class.”
What would she do differently? She said while Biden has an “incremental approach,” she wants the U.S. to take a “fundamental economic U-Turn.”
“We need fundamental economic reform. We need universal health care. We need tuition-free college and tech school. We need guaranteed living wage. We need guaranteed sick pay. We need paid family leave,” she said.
While Phillips agrees with Williamson that the economy is a major concern, he differs most from Biden on issues surrounding the southern border.
“I’ve been there twice. It is an unmitigated, embarrassing, unforgivable disaster, and Democrats have to wake up to the truth,” Phillips told Abrams.
Phillips thinks Democrats should face what’s happening at the border and not ignore it.
“The more we ignore it, the more we pave a path for Donald Trump to return to the White House. Because you know what? He’s actually listening, and I think it’s time that Democrats do,” Phillips said.
At this point, Uygur disagrees with Biden most on the Israel-Hamas war.
“He’s been monstrous at that,” Uygur said.
“He’s greenlighted the massacres and the war crimes that Israel’s committed. He’s spending our taxpayer dollars to go kill innocent Palestinians,” he claimed.
Williamson, Phillips, and Uygur are widely considered long-shot candidates. According to the latest polling averages from FiveThirtyEight, Biden is polling at 69.8% support with Williamson trailing behind at 6.1% and Phillips at 3.5%. Uygur is not listed on the poll.