ANOTHER Democrat publicly calls for Biden, 81, to drop out and reveals his replacement... as White House erupts in chaos over Parkinson's expert visits

Democratic Rep. Adam Smith has publicly called on President Joe Biden to step aside from the presidential race, and believes Kamala Harris is a 'stronger candidate'.

'I think it's become clear that he's (Biden) not the best person to carry the Democratic message' he told CNN's Jake Tapper.

Smith was on a private call over the weekend with colleagues who said Biden needed to drop out.

But now he has become the highest-ranking member of his party to go public with his calls for the embattled president, 81, to be replaced.

Smith then released a statement through is Congressional website. Read it in full below:

Biden should end his candidacy for a second term as President and release his delegates to the Democratic National Convention to enable the party to nominate a new candidate for President. This must happen as soon as possible to give the new ticket the maximum amount of time to make its case to the American people.

Any candidate for the highest office in our nation has a strong burden to bear. That candidate must be able to clearly, articulately, and strongly make his or her case to the American people. It is clear that President Biden is no longer able to meet this burden.

Donald Trump and MAGA extremism pose an existential threat to our nation, and we need to be in the strongest possible position to win in this election.

If President Biden runs, I will back him one hundred percent and without reservation. Elections are, after all, a choice. The President would still be, by a wide margin, the best candidate in the current field. He has done an outstanding job as President and our country will always owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the job he has done. But no candidate is owed another term in office based solely on past performance. Every new term must be earned with the clear understanding of what that candidate will be capable of doing in the term to come.

If the President continues his campaign, it would be a mistake. He should step aside now so that we can find a new candidate that will put us in the strongest possible position to beat Donald Trump in November.

President Joe Biden, 81, pulled a Trump trick on Monday, dialing into a sympathetic TV show to defend himself amid calls to step aside and to dare critics to run against him at his party's convention next month.

He laughed off suggestions that he be tested to explain his stumbling debate performance and insisted he was not going to drop out of the election.

Instead he listed his administration's achievements and painted his critics as an out-of-touch elite as he fights for his political life.

And he chuckled when Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski asked whether he had been tested for pre-Parkinson's or other diseases that might explain why he had been unable to finish sentence in his debate showdown with Donald Trump.

'I had before. I was feeling so badly before the debate,' he said. 'When I came back, they tested me before. I thought maybe I had COVID. Maybe there was something wrong ... I had an infection or something.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump thinks President Joe Biden won't step aside in November because he has too much of an ego to end his reelection bid and that First Lady Jill Biden is having too much of a 'good time' in the White House to want to leave.

Amid rising calls from lawmakers, donors, strategists and members within the Democratic Party for Biden to withdraw from the race, the president has doubled-down that he won't drop out.

Now the former president is weighing-in on the future of his competitor's campaign and claiming he won't cave to the pressure to withdraw.

He told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday:

It looks to me like he may very well stay in. He's got an ego, and he doesn't want to quit. He doesn't want to do that… nobody wants to give that up in that way. He's going to feel badly about himself for a long time.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The movement disorder doctor who visited the White House eight times in eight months is the neurologist who assesses President Joe Biden at his annual physicals.

White House Physician Kevin O'Connor claimed in a memo on Monday that Biden has not seen a neurologist, including Dr. Kevin Cannard, outside of his regularly scheduled physical exams.

Dr. O'Connor wrote:

Seeing patients at the White House is something Dr. Cannard has been doing for a dozen years.

Cannard is a specialist at Walter Reed Medical Center focused on movement disorders like Parkinson's disease, which some experts speculate could be a condition that explains Biden's shuffling and stuttered gait.

White House visitor logs revealed that Cannard visited the White House eight times in eight months from summer 2023 to spring 2024.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump said he will reveal his vice president pick at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin next week – or right beforehand.

The veepstakes were highly watched before the debate on June 27 but have since been overshadowed by calls from Democrats for Joe Biden to step aside. Trump said weeks ago that he already made up his mind on who will run with him on the GOP ticket in November.

Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday, Trump said:

I'd love to do it during the convention... Probably a little before the convention, but not much. It could even be during the convention that we're doing. I'd love to do it during the convention. I think would be a very interesting build up and important for the convention. Would make it even more exciting if we did it in Milwaukee.

Trump said the most important thing is choosing someone that would make a good president.

Those reportedly in the final consideration for Trump's VP are Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. marco Rubio (R-Fla.). There are a handful of others speculated to be on the short list.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

President Joe Biden is joining a virtual meeting with members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus on Monday evening.

He will discuss on the call the 2024 election and his future as the Democratic nominee.

According to the Biden-Harris reelection campaign:

President Biden will deliver remarks and answer questions from CBC members.

It comes as many claim Biden's sway with black voters could be his ticket to remaining a viable candidate in November amid calls within the Democratic Party for him to step aside.

CBC Chairman Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) released a statement on Monday backing Biden.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Monday President Biden will do what’s ‘right for the country,’ without specifying exactly what that is.

‘Joe Biden has given nobody any reason to doubt that he’s going to put country first,’ said Kaine, who will be on the ballot himself in November.

‘This is Joe Biden. He does what’s right for the country. He’s going to do what’s right for the country,’ he told reporters amid push and pull for the president to step back amid low poll numbers and a disaster debate performance.

Asked by DailyMail.com if his state was in play and why, he responded, ‘I feel very, very good about what I’m seeing in the polls in Virginia, but obviously this changes it. We’ll check it out. It’s my 11th race in Virginia. I’ve won every one of them.

On a day when more elected leaders came out to urge Biden to stay or go, Kaine held back. ‘I’m not going to tell Joe Biden what the right decision for him is.’

But the former DNC chair and Hillary Clinton running mate didn’t rule out the mechanics being in place to find a new nominee if one is needed. ‘There’s a lot of time between now and the convention,’ he said.

Progressive Squad leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez broke her silence on whether Joe Biden should run again in 2024.

After Biden's disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump on June 27, questions have swirled over the 81-year-old's physical and mental health - and whether he should withdraw from the race.

So far, only a small cohort of Democrat lawmakers have called on the president to withdraw from the race while many more have thrown their support behind Biden.

The Squad leader confirmed Monday she is on board with the president's leadership.

'I have spoken with [Biden] extensively,' AOC revealed. 'The matter is closed. Joe Biden is our nominee.'

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter in Columbus, Georgia

Jill Biden, speaking to veterans and military families in Georgia, called Donald Trump 'evil.

'He's evil,' the first lady said, debuting a new line on the campaign trail.

'He didn't want to be seen with injured veterans because it didn't look good for him. It's disgraceful. But it's not surprising,' she said.

She repeated the story of how Donald Trump called soldiers 'losers' and 'suckers' – a story which Trump denies.

Jill Biden on Monday launched Veteran uhfd4jmcde6s and Military Families for Biden, campaigning in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia.

A major Democratic donor has pulled his support from President Joe Biden and said it would be a ‘disaster’ if he stays in the race.

Stewart Bainum Jr., the chairman of Choice Hotels, told CNBC on Monday that it is time for the 81-year-old president to ‘pass the baton’.

He confirmed that he will help the Democratic nominee ‘whoever that is’ after the convention, but won’t do it before.

Bainum, who is estimated to have an $85million net worth, joins wealthy backers who are skeptical of Biden’s chances of beating Donald Trump in November, following his disastrous debate performance 10 days ago.

He held a fundraiser for Biden in Maryland last year, and he and wife Sandy have already donated $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund.

He told CNBC.

It’s now best for the country and the world for him to pass the baton. It’s going to be a disaster for the country for him to stay in the race.

We’ll help the nominee- whoever that is- after the convention. We won’t do it before the convention.

We want to know who the nominee is. We think there should be an open convention and the delegates can decide.’

House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries is standing with President Biden even as elected Democrats line up to raise public doubts about whether he can win.

‘Yes I made clear the day after the debate publicly that I support President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket. My position has not changed,’ Jeffries said, Punchbowl News reported.

That comes after pundits following Biden’s disastrous debate performance called for top party leaders including Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to urge Biden to withdraw from the race. Biden has been rallying allies and getting statements of support from influential members of the Congressional Black Caucus including Rep. James C. Clyburn of South Carolina. On Monday Biden issued a letter pointing to his overwhelming primary win.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet on Monday called for a ‘conversation’ about whether President Biden could win reelection – and asked pointed questions about whether he could harm Democrats down-ballot.

‘We need candidates at every level of this campaign who are campaigning with the vigor that it’s going to require to beat Donald Trump,’ Bennet told DailyMail.com in the Senate as lawmakers openly mused whether the party was better off with or without Biden as their standard bearer.

‘The way he’s going to be able to convince voters that this was a one off, that it was a bad night, is to be able to go out there and to campaign and to take on Donald Trump to defend the values that we all care about and that he cares about,’ he told reporters, referencing Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

‘We’ll have to see. I want him to succeed,’ said Bennet, who previously chaired his party's Senate campaign arm, while declining to state his view flat out. But he didn’t rule out the practicality of replacing him.

‘First of all I’m sure we could figure it out if we had to figure it out. That’s no one’s first choice … We have a moral obligation to the country to establish that we can win the presidency, that we can win the House, and that we can win the Senate. We have to do that. And we’re here today to have this conversation – or this week.’

President Biden is setting up the next hurdle as he proves he is up for campaigning amid calls by lawmakers for him to step back – submitting to what the White House is now calling a 'big boy' press conference.

The commitment came on a day Biden phone into MSNBC and wrote restive congressional lawmakers seeking to provide assurances that he can beat Donald Trump after his shaky debate performance.

'I guess a big boy press conference, we're calling it, and take some questions from you all,' White House national security spokesman John Kirby called it while discussing Biden's schedule.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also used the term – which came from a reporter who last week wanted to know the nature of the event. Biden will 'hold a press conference - a big boy press conference,' Jean-Pierre said at the White House while battling questions about Biden's health and cognition.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent at the White House

The White House on Monday said that President Joe Biden was not being treated for Parkinson's disease during a bad-tempered press briefing when officials were accused of hiding his medical details.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at times struggled to be heard amid a cacophony of questions about the 81-year-old president's health.

She confirmed he had been examined three times by a neurologist but refused to say why a specialist in Parkinson's disease visited the White House eight times in eight months, citing privacy and security concerns.

But that simply triggered a hubbub of questions from the usually docile front row of reporters who wanted a fuller explanation.

'Ed, a little respect please,' said Jean-Pierre to CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O'Keefe, who wanted to know why she was not prepared to discuss details of Dr. Kevin Cannard's visits, when they were already a matter of public record, revealed by visitor logs.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got asked point blank if President Biden had a script when he phoned into MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ Monday morning.

‘The president spoke from his heart,’ she said. ‘There was no script at all. He was very detailed.’

At one point during Biden’s remarks a microphone picked up what sounded like paper being turned over.

'I’m reading from a list of lies,' Biden said on air after running through a list of statements Donald Trump made during the debate that he took on.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held a contentious briefing with reporters who pressed her repeatedly about the president’s health and fitness and revelations about White House visits by a neurologist from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Jean-Pierre bristled when asked about the White House being forced to clean up her own earlier statement that Biden hadn’t had a medical exam following his disastrous debate. (He had a check-in with the White House physician who asked about what he said was a cold, the White House said last week).

‘My team does everything that we can to make sure that we get the answers to you,’ she told reporters. ‘To say that I’m holding information or to allude to anything else is really, really unfair.’

She said Biden ‘has seen a neurologist three times – not more than that’ as part of his ordinary annual physical. But she would not describe the White House visits, gleaned from visitor logs, of the expert, citing privacy rules and thousands of personnel who get treated at the White House.

‘We want to respect that person and give them the measure of privacy that they deserve,’ she said.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that he has seen no reason to question Joe Biden's lucidity after his disastrous debate performance.

He defended the 81-year-old president and suggested he was sharp because he still asked foreign policy questions even he couldn't answer.

As he was peppered with questions on Biden's health, he said he was 'uncomfortable' answering.

In my experience in the last two and a half years, I have not seen any reason whatsoever to question or doubt (President Biden) lucidity, his grasp of context, his probing nature, and the degree to which he is completely in charge of facts and figures.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby has said Joe Biden will host a 'big boy' press conference during the NATO summit in Washington D.C. this week.

He also rejected any concerns that the 81-year-old is not able to lead and rejected suggestions other world leaders are worried about signs of cognitive decline.

An expert on Parkinson's disease has visited Joe Biden's White House nine times since November 2022, visitor logs show.

Eight of those visits from Dr. Kevin Cannard, a Walter Reed neurologist, came between last summer and this spring.

It was first reported over the weekend that Dr. Cannard met with Biden's personal physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor in January.

Now the frequency of his trips has been revealed.

The White House documents visits from July 2023 to March 2024.

More recent trips would not yet have been disclosed.

It is unclear if Dr. Cannard was at the White House to discuss Biden's health or whether it was for an unrelated meeting.

But it has fueled more questions about the 81-year-old's health since his disastrous debate peformance.

Stephen King has said it's time for President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid.

The novelist and fervent Donald Trump critic says the 81-year-old president needs to make the drastic move for the 'America he so clearly loves'.

'Joe Biden has been a fine president, but it’s time for him—in the interests of the America he so clearly loves—to announce he will not run for re-election,' he posted on X.

House progressive's support of Joe Biden as the presumed presidential nominee is in question.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., released a statement Monday indicating the conference is not fully on board with Biden.

'It's true that Democrats are having many conversations among our members and our constituents as we consider the best path forward to protect our democracy,' she wrote.

'As CPC Chair, I am listening carefully to the thoughts of our members from all over the country—in swing and safe states and districts—as we work to ensure we defeat Donald Trump and win the House and Senate.'

Her indecision comes as congressional lawmakers are set to return to Washington to a deluge of questions about their loyalty to the Democrat president as his health and ability have concerned lawmakers and voters alike.

Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto came out in defense of President Biden as senators return to the hill on Monday.

'Joe Biden won the Democratic nomination in a landslide because he fights for working people in this country,' she wrote on X.

'He's always had Nevadans' backs, whether it's on the picket lines, protecting our personal freedoms, or lowering costs — now it’s time for us to have his.'

Nevada is one of the biggest battlegrounds of the 2024 presidential race.

Cortez Masto won a close reelection during the 2022 midterms.

Even as elected Democrats break with the president, Biden loyalists are pushing back. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz (D-Fla.), a former DNC chair, told DailyMail.com Biden’s letter today was ‘very effective’ in reminding colleagues to come together.

She expanded on Biden’s ‘bad day’ argument and predicted he might have five bad days during the campaign – but said it was wrong to obsess over it.

‘Do you know any candidate in the United States of America that doesn’t have five bad days on the campaign trail? Because I’ve had five and I’m 57 years old,’ said Wasserman-Schultz, a member of Speaker Hakeem Jeffries' leadership team.

‘This is the problem, is that the press is intricately parsing and separating and dissecting every single word, every single movement. There’s no human being on earth that could withstand that kind of scrutiny.’ Asked how Democrats could pull out of the cycle, she responded, ‘Focus on Donald Trump and his extremism.’

Democratic Senator Jon Tester has some harsh words for President Biden as the president faces questions over whether he is fit for the job.

In a statement to a local Montana reporter, the Democrat said the president 'has got to prove to the American people - including me- that he's up to the job for another four years.'

'Meanwhile, I'll continue to do what I've always done: Stand up to President Biden when he's wrong and protect our Montana way of life,' he continued.

It is one of the harshest public statements made to date about the president's ability to lead.

Tester is facing a tough reelection this fall in red Montana as Republicans look to flip the majority in the Senate.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer - who has been floated as a possible replacement on the 2024 ticket for Biden - is downplaying those rumors.

'It’s a distraction more than anything,' Whitmer told the Associated Press on Monday ahead of the launch of her new book.

'I don’t like seeing my name in articles like that because I’m totally focused on governing and campaigning for the ticket,' she continued.

1. SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION
2. CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY
3. END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN
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5. STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER
6. LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!
7. DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
8. PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY -- ALL MADE IN AMERICA
9. END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
10. STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS
11. REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN.
12. STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD
13. KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY
14. FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE
15. CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE AND CUT COSTLY AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS
16. CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN
17. KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
18. DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN
19. SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
20. UNITE OUR COUNTRY BY BRINGING IT TO NEW AND RECORD LEVELS OF SUCCESS

Barack Obama’s former speechwriter Jon Favreau challenged statements Joe Biden made in his rambling MSNBC interview on Monday morning.

The embattled 81-year-old insisted Democratic voters still backed him for the job and insisted his debate debacle was a one-off bad night.

He also blamed the press and ‘elites’ for pushing that he should drop out of the race.

Favreau, who is now the host of the podcast Pod Save America, hit back and said the concerns started well before the debate.

Trump prosecutors Alvin Bragg and Matthew Colangelo won't be testifying this week.

Bragg will testify only after the ex-president's sentencing in the hush money case, which was pushed back to September 18.

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter in Wilmington, N.C.

Jill Biden made it clear her husband Joe isn’t going anywhere in the race for the White House despite mounting calls for him to step aside.

The defiant first lady said of the 81-year-old president:

For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he's all in.

That's the decision he's made and just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too. I know you are too or you wouldn't be here today. And with four more years Joe will continue to fight for you.

This is personal for us. We know what it's like to connect with a lagging phone call from across the world, to smile through another holiday at the table. Let me ask you this: Does Donald Trump - does Donald Trump know what it's like?

She then repeated the claim that Trump called soldiers ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.'

He didn’t want to be seen with injured veterans because it didn’t look good for him. It’s disgraceful. But it’s not surprising.

Donald Trump wakes up every morning thinking of one person and one person only: himself.

We know what Donald Trump is like as commander-in-chief. He dismissed the military community diminished. America’s leadership around the world. It could be worse this time. He said he wants to be a dictator from day one.

Sen. Tim Scott topped our poll of possible veep picks for Donald Trump, as the former president edges closer to making his decision.

Aides have let it be known that Doug Burgum, North Dakota governor, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. J.D. Vance are on a shortlist of three as they tease his announcement ahead of the Republican Party convention next week.

But our poll of 1,000 likely voters offers more food for thought in the meantime, adding extra names into the mix.

Another House Democrat is calling on Joe Biden to hurry up and make up his mind about staying in the presidential contest.

Rep. Greg Landsman wrote in a statement Monday: 'President Biden has to be able to make this case clearly to the American people, again and again and again. Now's the time for action, but time is running out.'

The Ohio Democrat's call for Biden to clearly demonstrate his case comes days after Joe reassured voters and lawmakers that he is staying in the race.

Whoopi Goldberg has given President Joe Biden her full support with an eyebrow-raising defense on The View.

I don’t care if he’s pooped his pants. I don’t care if he can’t put a sentence together. Show me he can’t do the job and then I’ll say, okay, maybe it’s time to go. Now, he had a bad night the first time that he went on and debated with [now-Vice President] Kamala Harris, and everybody wanted him to quit then, saying ‘You can’t talk to women like this,’ or ‘You’re doing this wrong, you’re doing that wrong.' He came back, said, ‘You know what? I got it,’ and gave four years.

So yeah, I have poopy days all the time. I step in so much poo you can’t even imagine. Now, I’m not running the world, but I don’t know anybody who doesn’t step in stuff at some point. So I’m just simply saying, yeah, there are two debates. And if he can’t do what he needs to do for the second debate, I’ll join any crew that says get rid of him.

With Democrats still infighting over there nominee, Republican Donald Trump’s campaign announced the themes for the upcoming Republican convention in Milwaukee. All fit within the MAGA theme, although not quite with the acronym. Monday will be themed ‘Make America Wealthy Once Again, Tuesday will be themed ‘Make America Safe Once Again.’

Wednesday is headlined as ‘Make America Strong Once Again,’ and Thursday will reach back to ‘Make America Great Once Again.’

The themes come after the convention announced that Milwaukee schoolchildren will help inflate ‘nearly 100,000 balloons’ set to come down when Trump secures his party’s nomination.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

Biden used his Morning Joe interview to lay down a challenge to the naysayers in his party, as he insisted that he had been picked fair and square by Democrats as the prospective nominee to run against Donald Trump.

I'm getting so frustrated by the elites. Not talking about you guys by the way ... the elites in the party. They know so much more? If any of these guys don't think I should run ... run against me. Announce for president. Challenge me at the convention.

He hit the talking points of his campaign, listing his achievements during the past three and a half years and painting his internal critics as an out-of-touch elite. Instead he pointed to crowds that greeted him during the weekend (above) during a church visit and an 'ice cream social.'

The bottom line here is that we're not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere. I wouldn't be running if I didn't absolutely believe that I'm the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

President Joe Biden is pulling a Trump, dialing into a TV show for an interview with Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

It is a tricky medium for a president who tends to mumble his way through interviews at the best of times, let alone when he is speaking on the telephone.

But he cuts an indignant tone, telling the hosts that losing to Trump is not an option.

Mika asks him how he can reassure voters that he won't suffer another night like his terrible debate peformance.

Look at my career. I have not had many of those nights. It was a terrible night and I really regret it happened.

With pressure mounting on him to step aside, President Joe Biden dramatically released a letter to Democrats telling them he is 'firmly committed' to staying in the race to keep the White House.

The 81-year-old issued the letter to lawmakers returning to Congress for the first time since his car crash debate performance with Donald Trump.

Democrats are demanding he step down and polls released in the last week show their candidate could be heading for disaster in November.

But a defiant Biden has insisted he isn't going anywhere and rejected concerns about his candidacy and 'press speculation'.

In the letter, the president took shots at the press, donors and party operatives who have said the party's only chance is to throw him over the side.

'Now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump.

Ivanka Trump has re-emerged as her father Donald's fiercest public defender, even as she defiantly says she won't return to politics.

The former first daughter will attend the Republican National Convention next week, a source close to her told DailyMail.com, but she will be there in a personal capacity to support her father.

She will be there on Thursday, July 18, to see Donald Trump formally accept the nomination. However, Ivanka 'will not serve in any political capacity at the event as a delegate, fundraiser or otherwise,' the source said.

President Joe Biden has sent a message to Democrats demanding he drop out that he is staying in the race.

The 81-year-old president attacked the press and insisted Democratic Party voters want him as their candidate, despite the polls telling him otherwise.

In the letter to Congressional Democrats, he said: 'I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end and to beating Donald Trump'.

Read the full letter below

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter

Jill Biden heads to three key battleground states on Monday to campaign for her husband as more Democrats publicly call on Joe Biden to exit the presidential race.

The first lady will attend campaign events in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia – all states Biden’s re-election campaign is still eying for a win in November, despite the flurry of calls for him to step down.

During her trip she will formally launch Veterans and Military Families for Biden.

Her trip comes as Biden’s place on the Democratic ticket is at a tipping point. He, buoyed by his wife and other family members, believes he can turn this around. But members of his party worry the situation is going to get worse.

Jill Biden has been adamant that Joe Biden stay in the race.

But she also hasn’t answered questions yet from the media about his condition or addressed questions about whether she worked with staff to hide it from the public

A pair of well-connected Democrats have issued a bombshell memo detailing their wild plan to replace President Joe Biden on their 2024 ticket.

It would require Biden to step down as the head of the ticket by mid-July to pave the way for other Democrats to throw their hats in the ring for a 'blitz primary' that would feature celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Oprah, according to Semafor.

The six candidates with the most votes from delegates would also have to vow to run a positive-only campaign.

The plan is the brainchild of Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown law professor who served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations and as a volunteer policy adviser to the 2020 Biden campaign, as well as Ted Dintersmith, a venture capitalist and education philanthropist who has donated to a number of Democratic campaigns.

They have already circulated the plan to Democrat donors, as well as officials within the Biden campaign and administration - and say they have widespread support.

Democratic lawmakers held a crisis call on Sunday afternoon to discuss President Joe Biden's viability as their 2024 candidate amid growing concerns over their own political futures in November.

On the call, at least five more Democratic lawmakers called on Biden, 81, to step aside, according to reports.

And most agreed that Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, should be the nominee instead.

Judiciary Ranking Member Jerry Nadler and House Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano are among those who expressed they want Biden to end his White House bid.

Reps. Don Beyer, Adam Smith and Joseph Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, also said Biden is done for.

President Joe Biden's former press secretary Jen Psaki admitted on Sunday that his ABC interview may not have done enough to shut down calls for him to step down.

She opened her show on MSNBC by saying:

I would say it went just okay for the president. In many ways, people watching saw what they wanted to see, because for some, he looks better than he did at the debate. He did. He was more clear. He seemed much better prepared to make his case against Trump. There were also some moments — not just one — that did not go well.

Psaki added that Biden seemed 'in denial' about his position in the polls against rival Donald Trump.

When the interview ended, it left us all in this sort of purgatory for the moment. It was better than the debate, not a home run at all. Even if it was a home run, one interview definitely doesn’t have the capacity to change the perception out there of 72 percent of voters, according to a CBS poll, who do not believe that Biden has the mental or cognitive health to serve. Even the White House and the campaign know that

She also suggested that the panic within the Democratic Party isn't dying down any time soon.

The questions I know I’m getting from text messages from friends, from family are twofold: What’s going to happen and what is the best path forward?. And I’m not going to sit here this afternoon and tell you I know the answer to either question.

The White House has made a major error with Vice President Kamala Harris as Democrats struggle to find an alternative for President Joe Biden following his abysmal debate performance.

Several Democrats - including Rep. James Clyburn, of South Carolina, and Sen. Laphonza Butler, of California - have suggested that the 59-year-old vice president is best suited to take on Trump in the general election if Biden agrees to step down.

Tim Ryan, a former congressman from Ohio, has even called on the 81-year-old commander-in-chief to 'rip the Bandaid off' and promote Harris immediately.

But in the four years since Biden took office, his administration has done very little to promote Harris and properly prepare her to lead the United States, according to The Atlantic.

That failure comes despite the president vowing to stand aside for a new generation of Democratic leaders.

A top Democrat who has called for President Joe Biden to step aside from the 2024 race has said the deadline for the decision is coming very soon.

Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois told Politico's Playbook on Sunday night:

'People have to act. This isn’t a time for contemplation. Time is running out for this process to work effectively, and, frankly, it’s time for tough love.'

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who hasn't called for Biden to drop out, says Joe needs to prove to the country he is capable of doing the job.

He told CNN's State of the Union over the weekend:

I think the president needs to do more. I’m not advising this campaign, but if I were, I would probably suggest that the president get out there and do a town hall, and do a press conference — show the country that he is still the old Joe Biden, one of the best retail politicians this country has ever seen.

The president says he can do that. I trust that he can. I think this week is going to be really critical for him to answer those remaining questions.

President Joe Biden is given detailed instructions with pictures and large font instructing him on how to entry venues ahead of planned events, it has emerged.

A template provided to event staffers, and obtained by Axios, shows how Biden's aides prepare a short document with a photograph that depicts his precise 'walk to the podium'.

The template also reportedly included memos that showed the 'view from podium' and 'view from audience', which were also accompanied by photographs.

The White House has claimed the short memos are 'basic approaches' that are critical to Biden's 'advance work' as president, adding that the same approached is also used by Vice President Kamala Harris' team.

But some event staff have said they were 'surprised' by the memos and do not think a 'seasoned political pro' should need verbal and visual guidance on 'how to enter and exit a room'.