Congressman Dean Phillips from Minnesota, who is also running for the 2024 presidential election, is staking it all on the outcome of the Democratic primary in New Hampshire on January 23. As a self-funded challenger against incumbent President Joe Biden , Phillips put off his possible bid for a fourth term in Congress, and Reuters questioned Philips’ campaign this week in Machester regarding what he thinks will go down this year.
As per the outlet, when asked if his run was damaging the chances of Biden’s presidential win, Phillips said, “President Biden is a man I respected but is not a viable candidate. And it is not an attack from Dean Phillips, who is right now positioned as a meaningless candidate in this race. I’m not the one that’s done this to him. I’m pointing out the truth. And anybody who’s willing to pay attention will recognize it.” He also pointed out Biden’s poor numbers and inability to ‘pass the torch.’
The congressman said, “That’s why I’m calling for competition. I think he should have passed the torch. That was my first call, then I called others to join the stage. They wouldn’t do it. That’s why I ultimately decided to do it myself. But that invitation is still out there. Whether he passes the torch or not, the unwillingness of others to join the stage, that is a threat to democracy. His unwillingness to open the stage, I would argue, now is a threat, because his numbers are so horrifyingly poor.” He added, “And yes, it not the direct threat to democracy that Donald Trump is, but I believe you’re complicit if you knowingly go into a race where you’re likely to lose and you suppress the potential of other candidates.”
$33 T in debt, $2 T in annual deficits, and debt service soon approaching $800+ B. The mismanagement of our government is a staggering failure of every administration since Clinton. I will approach it with an eye on ROI and value. Zero based budgeting, top-down assessment of…
— Dean Phillips (@deanbphillips) November 25, 2023
Last year in November, Phillips shared almost similar opinions on the 2024 race in a series of early-morning tweets. Although he respected the President and was a fervent believer in Biden’s vision, he said he found the degree of government errors to be ‘staggering’ and thought it was ‘delusional’ to imagine that he could defeat Trump once again. He wrote at the time, “I campaigned hard for him in ‘20 when he was the only candidate who could beat Trump – as the polls indicated. And now he’s going to lose to Trump. But if Democrats decide after a spirited primary that he’s the best chance, I’ll work my tail off for him or the eventual nominee.”
Once an ardent supporter of Biden, Phillips is now the only elected Democrat to oppose him in the primary. In another tweet, Phillips wrote, “As a member of House Democratic Leadership, I supported and promoted the Biden agenda.” He later added , “The mismanagement of our government is a staggering failure of every administration since Clinton.”
“Sometimes if you build it, they don’t come,” Dean Phillips told reporters outside of the Manchester DoubleTree hotel this morning, after no voters showed up to his “Government Repair Truck Coffee Conversations” event in 22 degree weather. pic.twitter.com/x0lpVcRSnb
— jake rosen (@JakeMRosen) January 9, 2024
Following his recent campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire, when not a single prospective voter showed up, Representative Steve Phillips allegedly told reporters, “Sometimes if you build it, they don’t come.” The disastrous ‘Government Repair Truck Coffee Conversations’ event took place outside a DoubleTree hotel downtown. The longshot candidate for president in 2024 intended to distribute Dunkin’ coffee from the back of a campaign truck while conversing with voters in below-freezing temperatures. The campaign blamed the lackluster event on the weather, claiming that attendees were parking in an underground garage and coming via the hotel to escape the chill.