Dean Phillips fires back at reporters: 'You're not asking questions Americans give a s--t about'
Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips scolded reporters during a press gaggle in New Hampshire on Monday ahead of the state's primary election, saying they weren't focused on the issues Americans care about.
The Minnesota congressman started to get testy with journalists after he was questioned repeatedly about running as a third-party candidate and possibly siphoning votes from President Biden.
"Well, we're in a primary, so there's no splitting the votes. I don't know what that means," he retorted in a video shared by Forbes. He reiterated that "under no condition" would he run on a third-party ticket so he wouldn't be taking votes away from Biden in the general election and would oppose any third-party effort to take votes away from Biden if he doesn't secure the Democratic nomination.
"Couldn't be more clear. I don't understand why there's confusion," he told the group of reporters.
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Afterward, the Democrat grew frustrated when asked if he would "dissuade" a third-party challenger to Biden.
"First of all, I just hope one of you asks a question about what people really care [about] right now. That's just a simple request," Phillips lectured the reporters. "I've been here for 90 days and you know how many people have asked me any of the questions that you have so far? Not one."
He told them that voters care about the economy, inflation, health care, Social Security, the problem with homelessness in their cities and improving education.
Phillips reiterated that these "clickbait" questions were not what the average American cares about.
"I'll answer your question, but I'm really getting sick of it," he fired back.
"I've said this 18,000 times. I'm only doing this to defeat Donald Trump," the Democrat said, describing his efforts to bring third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West into the Democratic primary.
"No one in the country right now cares. In fact, most of the people in the country are going to the Trump rally right now because he's listening to them," he scolded the reporters.
"No one's asking about this stuff. I'm just frustrated. I hope you understand why I'm getting tired of it. You're doing your jobs but you're not asking the questions that Americans give a s--t about," he said before leaving the gaggle.
Phillips launched his longshot primary challenge against Biden in October. He has been critical of the Democratic Party for excluding him from the ballot in some upcoming primaries like Florida's.
The Biden challenger shut down rumors he was considering running third-party earlier on Monday while appearing on "Fox & Friends."
"I'm a Democrat, I'm going to run as a Democrat and I'm going to win as a Democrat," he insisted.