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A political action committee advertisement wonders whether President Biden can win the 2024 election and suggests it’s time for a new generation of leaders, namely Rep. Dean Phillips.
This nationally aired ad is another blow to Mr. Biden, with Mr. Phillips’ long-shot candidacy receiving the backing of a super PAC that is anti-Trump and seemingly anti-Biden.
The ad from the Pass the Torch PAC aired in New Hampshire and features a clip of former President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address in 1961.
“Let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans,” Mr. Kennedy says in the video.
Mr. Phillips, who launched his campaign last month, has adopted the phrase “pass the torch.”
“I am the Democratic candidate who can win. It is time for the torch to be passed to a new generation of American leaders,” the Minnesota Democrat says in the ad.
The PAC presentation displays statistics from a New York Times-Siena College poll that shows former President Donald Trump beating Mr. Biden in key swing states Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Michigan.
“2024 is different,” a narrator says in the ad. “Trump is winning. It’s time to pass the torch.”
The super PAC is backed by Steve Schmidt, who was a top adviser to the late Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential run. Mr. Phillips wrote on X Saturday that Mr. Schmidt helped him get started, but is “not affiliated” with his campaign.
“He appears to be creating a new Lincoln Project-style effort to ensure Trump is defeated,” Mr. Phillips wrote.
Polls show that Mr. Biden is leading over the other Democratic candidates, including Mr. Phillips and Marianne Williamson.
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