Trump Says Democrats Should Vote for Dean Phillips in New Hampshire

‘Let’s see if an unknown congressman—nobody ever heard of this guy—let’s see how he does.’

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald J. Trump dances after speaking at a rally in Manchester, N.H., on Jan. 20, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Former President Donald Trump has called on the Democrats in New Hampshire to vote for Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) to send a signal to President Joe Biden that he should not abandon the state.

President Biden has announced that he would be absent from the New Hampshire primary after New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, at the behest of both state Democrats and Republicans, preempted the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC’s) selection of Feb. 6 as the state’s primary election day.

Instead, the state will hold its primary on Jan. 23 to preserve its more than 100-year-old tradition of being the first state in the country to primary.

Speaking at a rally in New Hampshire on Jan. 20, President Trump suggested that Mr. Phillips may defeat President Biden in the state, saying the congressman “just picked up a lot of votes.”

“Let’s see if an unknown congressman—nobody ever heard of this guy—let’s see how he does,” the former president remarked.

“He might beat Biden, wouldn’t that be nice? I think Democrats should vote for the congressman just to send a signal [that] you don’t abandon us. Nobody gonna abandon New Hampshire,” he added.

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) attends a news conference on Iran negotiations on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 6, 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Mr. Phillips is a three-term Democratic congressman running for president on a platform of “relieving the economic hardship felt by working families” and “repairing our broken political system,” according to his website.

President Biden did not register for the New Hampshire primary after national Democrats opted to move their first primary to South Carolina, which has a more racially diverse population.

However, his supporters are mounting a write-in campaign in New Hampshire to ensure a win in the state on Jan. 23.

A CNN/University of New Hampshire poll released on Sunday showed President Biden drawing 63 percent of the primary vote in that state, with Mr. Phillips at 10 percent.

During a campaign event in Rochester on Jan. 22, Mr. Phillips criticized President Biden for not actively campaigning in New Hampshire.

“The fact that we’re not having a spirited competition, the fact that the president is not campaigning, means we are simply handing over hours of prime time television to every single GOP candidate,” he said.

Mr. Phillips, called a longshot candidate by both parties, entered the race late, declaring only at the end of October.

He missed the deadline to file for some state primaries including North Carolina, where President Biden is the only Democratic candidate on the ballot.

However, despite the primary season kicking off just two weeks ago, some think Mr. Phillips could still prove to be a problem for President Biden.

Former New Hampshire House Speaker Steve Shurtleff recently told Politico that he believes Mr. Phillips only needs “around 40 percent” to succeed in doing so.

As for President Biden, he said, “If the president fell below 60 percent, then he’s in serious trouble.”

Alice Giordano and Reuters contributed to this report.