Manchester, NH – Rep. Dean Phillips today applauded President Joe Biden for raising the issue of democracy but asked Biden to practice what he preaches.
“Joe Biden wants to talk about democracy when he thinks it benefits him politically, but he’s not too interested when he thinks it doesn’t,” said Rep. Phillips.
As widely reported, the Biden White House ordered the Democratic National Committee to gerrymander the Democratic Presidential Primary schedule to punish states where Biden lost badly in 2020.
As Rep. Jim Clyburn, a top Biden endorser, admitted the schedule was changed to avoid “embarrassment” on the part of Biden.
The president has refused to participate in a single debate this cycle – denying voters the opportunity to see him side by side with his opponents
And Biden has remained silent while allies in state parties conspire to deny ballot access to Biden’s primary opponents in North Carolina, Massachusetts (since overturned by the Massachusetts Secretary of State), Tennessee, Florida, and Wisconsin. In the case of Florida, allies have caused the primary to get canceled altogether.
“Where was the President when his supporters engaged in the biggest acts of voter disenfranchisement in decades?” asked Rep. Phillips. “We are not going to save our democracy by undercutting it.”
Voters are clearly fed up with the hypocrisy as well. Rep. Dean Phillips is currently surging in New Hampshire, with recent polls showing him over 20% despite launching his campaign only two months ago, and just 18% behind the sitting president among Democratic men in New Hampshire.