‘You’ve Screwed Up:’ Democratic Senator Attacks Biden Primary Opponent Who Got Trump Attaboy (Exclusive)

A big reason Rep. Dean Phillips is running against President Joe Biden is that the Minnesota Democrat believes former President Donald Trump would beat Biden in a rematch.

To reinforce that message, an independent super PAC backing Phillips spent $353,000 on a TV ad earlier this month in New Hampshire highlighting Trump's edge on Biden in numerous polls.

Phillips' messaging and longshot candidacy has annoyed Biden’s campaign about as much as it has pleased Trump, whose campaign advisers Monday jokingly gave Phillips an attaboy during a background briefing with reporters about the state of the race.

“Thank you very much. We kind of like that,” a senior Trump adviser joked.

Now Biden’s Democratic surrogates are hitting back, led by Sen. Tina Smith, a member of Phillips' home state congressional delegation.

“If Donald Trump is thanking you, you’ve screwed up. Badly,” Smith said in a written statement to The Messenger.

Well ahead in polls, fundraising and name ID, the White House incumbent has little to fear from Phillips. But in recent weeks, Biden’s supporters have stepped up their criticisms of the congressman in response to his stepped up rhetoric against the president.

Phillips suggested Biden was “unelectable” amid the House GOP impeachment inquiry that revolves around presidential son and, in response to a reporters question, he said he believed Biden was a “threat to democracy” because the president was silent about state Democratic Party rules that will keep Phillips’ name off the ballot in places like Florida.

Phillips walked back the “threat to democracy” attack, but by then Democrats were unloading on him for providing a measure of cover to Trump, who has joked about being dictator for a day to press for more oil drilling and immigration crackdowns and who is under criminal indictment for his role in the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol to stop Biden’s 2020 election win from being certified.

Phillips is concentrating his limited firepower on Biden in New Hampshire because Biden has refused to participate in the first-in-the-nation primary, prompting allies to start a write-in campaign on the president’s behalf to rob Phillips of a symbolic win in the Granite State.

On the Republican side, New Hampshire is emerging as a somewhat troubling state for Trump as his former U.N. Ambassador, Nikki Haley, rises in polls there. Still, Trump leads second-place Haley by 20 percentage points in New Hampshire. Trump is ahead of second-place Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by about 30 points in the Iowa Caucus, which will be held Jan. 15. The New Hampshire primary follows on Jan. 23.

Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc. plans to run ads attacking Haley in New Hampshire.

Haley, meanwhile, has been limited in her criticisms of Trump, but repeatedly mentions on the campaign trail that polls show her beating Biden by a wider margin than Trump.

“The biggest argument that Nikki makes is that she's more electable,” Trump’s adviser told reporters Monday. “Guess what? There’s this guy named Dean Phillips who’s running ads in New Hampshire running ads all about ‘Donald Trump can win, Donald Trump can win.’”

Phillips’s senior adviser, Jeff Weaver, took issue with the Trump camp’s take. “That's as moronic coming from Trump's minions as it is when it comes from Joe Biden's,” Weaver said. “If Dean Phillips says the sky is blue, is he responsible that it is?  The facts are the facts.  Fact: The President's approval ratings are in the cellar.  Fact: They appear to be getting worse, not better.  Fact: If the presidential election were held today, we would be subjected to four more years of Trump temper tantrums, tirades, and tyranny.   Fact: As rank and file Democrats decide whether to renominate Joe Biden, they should be aware of these other facts.”