On the trail, Dean Phillips finds inspiration in Liz Cheney
Dean Phillips brings up Trump and Biden a lot during his underdog presidential campaign. But another name has also become a fixture at his events: Liz Cheney.
CONCORD, N.H. — Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota brings up Donald Trump and Joe Biden a lot during his underdog presidential campaign. But another name has also become a fixture of his campaign events in New Hampshire: Liz Cheney.
Phillips cited Cheney, of Wyoming, the former No. 3 House Republican, at nearly every one of his campaign events in the week leading up to the New Hampshire primary. He has elevated Cheney as an exemplar of the “principle over party” tenet — she lost her congressional seat over her outspoken opposition to Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — that Phillips has used to justify his challenge to Biden on the grounds that he is no longer up to the job.
Phillips says he was inspired by Cheney, even if it might cost him his political career.
“I literally left the House Democratic leadership table. I resigned because it was so incongruent with my principles,” Phillips said at a campaign event in Concord on Sunday. “I’d seen Liz Cheney stand up for principle, and I thought my time is right now, too.”
Phillips told reporters in Manchester on Monday that he and Cheney, who lost her 2022 GOP primary to a Trump-endorsed challenger, “correspond on occasion” and that the two have been in touch since he launched his long-shot presidential bid in October.
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