Biden campaign blows off Dean Phillips floating No Labels bid: 'There are only two options’
The Biden campaign dismissed concerns that Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn) could end his Democratic primary challenge to President Biden and join a third party bid with No Labels, claiming that Phillips’ campaign doesn’t even matter.
“At the end of the day, there’s only going to be two parties that have an ability to get to 270 electoral votes, and that’s going to be Joe Biden as a Democratic nominee and whoever emerges from the extreme Republican primary that’s going on right now,” deputy campaign manager Quintin Fulks said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
Phillips’ long-shot challenge to Biden has gained no momentum, and questions swirl over whether the congressman will continue his campaign after the New Hampshire primary. Biden will not be on the ballot in New Hampshire, but a write-in campaign is seeking to defeat Phillips anyway.
“We’re going to stay focused on the issues and make this about freedom and democracy,” Fulks continued. “The Americans that have the most at stake understand that and they’re not going to be fooled by anything else.”
The Biden campaign has effectively ignored Phillips since he launched his candidacy in October.
“There are only two options of who’s going to be the President of the United States, and that’s either Joe Biden or whoever the Republicans put forth, and our campaign is going to continue to make sure that we’re delivering a message to draw that contrast about what this election is all about, and that’s restoring democracy and protecting freedoms from millions of Americans across this country,” Fulks added.
No Labels, a third party effort that has vowed to put forward a bipartisan presidential “unity” ticket, is actively recruiting figures to place on the ballot. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has been floated as an option, as has Sen. Joe Manchin (D). Both have teased that they could make White House runs, but neither has made a public decision.
Phillips first signaled interest in No Labels on Saturday, saying he would be interested in running on the group’s ballot line if Trump was the GOP nominee.
“It would have to be a Joe Biden-Donald Trump rematch that shows Joe Biden is almost certain to lose,” Phillips told The New York Times. “That is the only condition in which I would even entertain a conversation with any alternative.”