Dean Phillips floats Cabinet roles for Musk, Ackman if elected to White House

Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips suggested potential Cabinet posts for Elon Musk or billionaire investor Bill Ackman as he pursues a long-shot White House bid against President Biden.

Phillips participated in a forum with Musk, podcast host Jason Calacanis and Ackman on Musk’s X spaces platform Monday to discuss a variety of topics including diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, the 2024 election, the U.S. southern border and what a Phillips administration could look like.

In first 100 days in the Oval Office, Phillips said he would build “the most extraordinary bipartisan Cabinet in American history.”

“Maybe we’ll have a third of them on this spaces right now, guys,” he said.

Aside from Cabinet positions, Phillips said his first 100 days would include a focus on working with the other side of the aisle on national defense and security, along with initiatives for health care, education, and food and fuel prices.

Ackman, a billionaire mega-donor, has thrown his support behind Phillips’s White House bid, revealing Sunday he plans to donate $1 million to a political action committee backing the Minnesota Democrat. Ackman said Monday that while he has only known Phillips well for the past two months, he was impressed by his business track record and “overall personal qualities.”

Phillips launched his long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination last fall but has failed to gain any ground on the incumbent. According to RealClearPolling, Biden has about 69.8 percent support, followed by author Marianne Williamson at 7.9 percent and Phillips at 3.2 percent.

Phillips, 54, has tried to position himself as a younger, alternative voice to Biden, whom he has urged to step aside in 2024 and “pass the torch” onto the next generation of leaders. At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president; if reelected in 2024, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.

Calacanis nodded to this when introducing Phillips to Musk, calling him “an entrepreneur” and “under 80.”