Phillips now says he’ll stay in race ‘as long as it takes’ to get Trump match-up

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.) backtracked from his original plan of suspending his campaign by March 5 if he didn’t gain traction, saying Tuesday he will stay in the race “as long as it takes” to have a match-up with former President Trump.

“I’m recognizing that there is an immense need to keep this challenge going,” Phillips said on CNN’s “This Morning.”

Phillips, who announced in October he would be challenging President Biden for the Democratic nomination, posted online in November that if his campaign was “not viable after March 5th, I’ll wrap it up and endorse the likely nominee — Biden or otherwise.”

The Minnesota Democrat also said he is not running for reelection for his seat in the House. He is campaigning hard in New Hampshire for Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary, where Biden’s name won’t appear on the ballot.

In a recent interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, Phillips said if he earns 20 percent in the Granite State, it would be “literally unexpected and quite extraordinary.”

“I’m telling you, Chris, people are desperate for change; 70 percent of the country wants neither of these candidates,” Phillips said of Biden and Trump.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) reshuffled the long-standing party lineup for 2024, moving up South Carolina’s primary to begin the voting process. New Hampshire, citing state law, kept its primary as scheduled. Biden, sticking with the DNC’s plan, did not campaign in the state.

Phillips lambasted the grassroots effort to urge New Hampshire voters to write in Biden’s name Tuesday.

“People know he’s the president. They know it’s a primary, and they’re working their tails off to get … a write-in campaign. I’m telling you, he’s going to be the very weak candidate,” Phillips said. “Now — not just on polls, which we all know — now voters are going to demonstrate the same thing, and we know what’s going on.”

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