Biden challenger Phillips, in New Hampshire, calls president 'weak'
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[January 22, 2024]
By Steve Holland
NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) -U.S. Representative Dean Phillips,
attempting a longshot bid for the Democratic nomination, assailed Joe
Biden as "unelectable and weak" on Saturday as he tried to take
advantage of the president's absence from New Hampshire's primary.
Biden did not register for the New Hampshire after national Democrats
opted to move their first primary to South Carolina, which offers a more
diverse population.
But Biden's supporters are mounting a write-in campaign in New Hampshire
to ensure a win in the state on Tuesday, and a CNN/University of New
Hampshire poll released on Sunday showed Biden drawing 63% of the
primary vote in that state, with Phillips at 10%.
The Democratic National Committee has ruled that the New Hampshire
election effectively won’t count and the winner won't amass New
Hampshire's 23 delegates in the march to the party's nomination.
Phillips, a wealthy Democrat from Minnesota, said during a campaign
event in Nashua, New Hampshire, that he hoped to do well in Tuesday's
voting.
Phillips said a strong showing by him would be getting upwards of 20% or
more of the vote - "going from zero to somewhere in the 20s would be
pretty awesome, I think."
"Sadly it's going to demonstrate that our incumbent president is
unelectable and weak and I think it's going to show this country that
there's a candidate here who can actually do here what has been promised
for generations," Phillips told reporters after addressing dozens of
people at a senior citizen activity center.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/22/images/ads/current/culvers_sda_LUAL_2023.png)
He also noted Biden's age, 81.
"If you listen to the voters, people feel he's at a stage of life that
makes it incompatible to leading the free world. And the same is true of
Donald Trump," said Phillips, 55.
Trump, 77, is the leading Republican candidate. The former president was
defeated by Biden in his bid for a second term in 2020.
The White House has repeatedly dismissed concerns about Biden's age,
though polls show voters are concerned about it.
"Our perspective is that it's not about age, it's about the president's
experience," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on
Biden's 81st birthday. "We have to judge him by what he's done, not by
his numbers."
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![](../images/012224PIX/news_o4.jpg)
Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Representative Dean Phillips
(D-MN) speaks at a campaign event ahead of the New Hampshire
presidential primary election in Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.,
January 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/22/images/ads/current/businessdirectory_dailycover_2023.png)
The Biden re-election campaign did not respond to a request for
comment and has avoided commenting directly on Phillips's challenge.
When the congressman launched his challenge in October, it issued a
statement saying Biden's "campaign is hard at work mobilizing the
winning coalition that President Biden can uniquely bring together
to once again beat the MAGA Republicans next November."
Minnesota's Democratic Governor, Tim Walz, in a fundraising email at
the time said: "You know, I have to say this about Minnesota: it’s a
great state, full of great people. And sometimes they do crazy
things."
The New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23 offers the first at-the-polls
gauge of Biden’s political strength this election cycle, and the
unprecedented situation will be closely watched amid polls showing
him tied with Trump.
A poor showing by Biden against Phillips and self-help author
Marianne Williamson would likely fuel concerns that Biden is weak
heading into the general election.
Both Phillips and Williamson appeared to have little chance of
defeating Biden.
Backers of the write-in campaign are staging events throughout the
weekend to educate voters on how to write in Biden's name and
generate support for him.
Williamson told several dozen people at an event in Manchester that
she also felt Biden was weak and questioned the wisdom of nominating
him for a second term just because he beat Trump in 2020.
"To say he beat Trump once and therefore he'll beat him again - for
me it's like saying to an actor who's nominated for an Oscar twice.
'He won last time so it's only reasonable to think he'll win this
time. Well, it's a different movie," she said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Sandra Maler and Deepa
Babington)
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