Rep. Dean Phillips Refuses To Rule Out Third-Party Run

HAMPTON, N.H. ― Speaking to voters in a restaurant in New Hampshire’s seacoast on Sunday, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, once again refused to rule out the possibility of mounting a third-party bid under the banner of the centrist group, No Labels.

Asked about the idea by a member of the audience at his meet-and-greet event, Phillips responded by citing the possibility of circumstances in which it was the surest route to prevent former President Donald Trump from winning again. “I will do anything it takes as long as the data supports it to defeat the most dangerous man in the world,” he said.

A day earlier, Phillips told voters in Nashua something similar, saying that he would consider the idea only if Trump and President Joe Biden were headed for a rematch in which Biden is “almost certain to lose.”

On Sunday though, he also said that the prospect of the Democratic National Committee using heavy-handed tactics to prevent fair competition in the presidential primary might also be a factor.

“I am a committed lifelong Democrat that believes deeply that I should pursue the process that is in place that is afforded to people who are willing to do so. And I intend to take it all the way through the convention,” he said. “But I am seeing the DNC employ practices that are not just anti-democratic, but I think despicable and dangerous and maybe even illegal. So if they are going to deny the opportunity to have a competition, I will keep going.”

Earlier on in the Q&A session, Phillips cited the case of the DNC asking the New Hampshire Democratic Party to instruct registered Democrats in the state that the primary is “meaningless.” New Hampshire Attorney General John