President Joe Biden slammed his critics as “elites” in a live interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, daring any challengers to run against him as he doubled down on his vow to stay in the race.

“I’m getting so frustrated by the elites — now I’m not talking about you guys — the elites in the party, ‘Oh, they know so much more.’ Any of these guys that don’t think I should run, run against me. Announce for president, challenge me at the convention,” Biden told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

During the audio-only interview, Biden shot down Brzezinski’s description of him as the presumptive Democratic nominee. “I’m more than the presumptive, I’m going to be the Democratic nominee,” Biden said, laughing.

The surprise appearance is part of an effort from the Biden campaign to combat growing calls from party leaders that the president withdraw his candidacy. It followed a weekend of campaign travel and Biden’s interview with ABC News on Friday. The president will also be under a microscope this week, with the NATO summit in Washington, a Thursday news conference and more campaign travel at the end of the week.

Biden is leaning heavily into a strategy he’s turned to in the past: casting his critics as “elites” who aren’t in step with the average Democratic voter.

One of the primary reasons Biden has been visiting stops around the country was to “make sure my instinct was right about the party still wanting me to be the nominee,” he said. Biden boasted about his “large” and “enthusiastic” crowds and made a jab at criticism that he relies on a teleprompter, saying “I did it all extemporaneously.”

“I’m not getting any of what I was told. I wanted to make sure I was right, that the average voter out there still wanted Joe Biden,” he said. “And I’m confident they do.”

Biden appeared on “Morning Joe” shortly after sending a letter to Hill Democrats on Monday that firmly stated his commitment to staying in the race, in a bid to shut down more intraparty calls for him to step aside.

He reiterated his belief that he is the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump in November, who he said “hasn’t done a damned thing since the debate” and is “riding around in his golf cart.”

Four senior Democrats on Sunday said in a private call with House leadership that Biden should step down. Many lawmakers have privately expressed concerns about Biden’s age and viability since his disastrous debate performance last month, and the number of Democrats publicly calling on the president to withdraw is expected to grow from the five who have said so in the days ahead.

“They’re big names, but I don’t care what those big names think. They were wrong in 2020. They were wrong in 2022 about the red wave. They were wrong in 2024,” Biden said, responding to a question about prominent figures who have called on him to step aside. “Come out with me and watch people react.”

Several more senior House Democrats called on President Joe Biden to abandon his reelection bid during a private call convened by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday afternoon, according to several people participating.

Among those forcefully calling for Biden to stand down during the nearly two-hour call were Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), according to two people familiar with the private session.

Other members on the call voiced concerns about Biden’s path to November, including Reps. Jim Himes (Conn.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Don Beyer (Va.) and Rick Larsen (Wash.). It’s a poor omen for the Biden campaign as the entire Democratic elected apparatus prepares to return to Washington on Monday evening where lawmakers will face tough questioning about their party’s standard-bearer.

Aaron Fritschner, Beyer’s spokesperson, posted on X to incorrect reports that Beyer called for a new nominee: “To be clear [Beyer] supports President Biden and said so on this call and any reporting to the contrary is a misunderstanding of what he said and what he believes.”

The additional calls for Biden to stand aside from senior Democrats come after the president’s performance during an interview last week with ABC News did nothing to assuage concerns among rank-and-file lawmakers about his continued viability in the race. Members have repeatedly urged the president to do more unscripted events and town halls to demonstrate his continued vitality and energy as quickly as possible.

It’s not just the House either. A group of Senate Democrats are reportedly planning a discussion of Biden’s path forward, led by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), once that chamber returns to Washington on Monday. Five House Democrats have publicly urged Biden to stand down, while numerous others have expressed concerns about his viability in private.

Jeffries has spoken little publicly on Biden’s future since the debate, but mysteriously posted a Bible verse on the social media platform X on Sunday morning before the call. “Do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go,” the Democratic leader wrote.

Democratic ire at Biden’s response during the ABC News interview that only “the Lord almighty” could force him from the presidential contest continued to bubble up on Sunday.

“We have to win this election,” said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on MSNBC. “This isn’t a decision for Lord almighty. This is a real world decision for real world people in politics who care about our country.”

House Republicans are opening an investigation into President Joe Biden’s doctor in the wake of his debate performance — the latest sign that Democrats’ political headaches are only growing.

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) sent a letter to White House physician Kevin O’Connor on Sunday requesting that he appear behind closed doors for a transcribed interview with committee counsel. Comer is giving O’Connor until July 14 to contact staff to schedule the interview.

“Americans question President Biden’s ability to lead the country. … [The committee] is investigating circumstances surrounding your assessment in February of this year that ‘President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old-male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” Comer wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO.

O’Connor, in his February report, said that Biden took “an extremely detailed neurologic exam” and that there were “no findings which would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder.” He also described Biden as having a stiffer gait, but that he is a “healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”

Comer is the first House Republican to open an investigation in the wake of Biden’s debate performance that has sparked growing concerns among Democrats — including calls from a handful of House lawmakers for him to step out of the presidential race. Biden has been adamant that he is staying in the race, though an ABC News sitdown failed to quell the open skepticism within the party.

There was already growing panic among Democrats that the political fallout from Biden’s debate performance could spill into congressional fights as the GOP’s campaign arms quickly rushed to try to box in House and Senate Democrats about if they believed Biden was fit for office.

But Comer’s letter is also a sign that House Republicans will also use the powers of their slim majority to weigh into the fallout. There’s been a growing push from the House’s right flank, including members of Comer’s committee, for Republicans to take such a step, with GOP members floating launch hearings or subpoenaing White House officials, O’Connor in particular.

And the Kentucky Republican, in his letter to O’Connor, linked the investigation back to a separate impeachment inquiry, which has largely focused on the family deals of Biden’s family members. Republicans don’t have the votes to impeach Biden, as they’ve failed to win over skeptics within their own conference who don’t believe that investigators have shown that Biden committed a crime or an impeachable offense. And while Democrats have also voiced concerns about Biden’s mental acuity over the last week, Comer referencing his impeachment inquiry investigation — as well two checks from Jim Biden to Joe Biden that representatives for both have repeatedly said are loan repayments — is likely to spark fierce Democratic pushback.

Comer is asking O’Connor to hand over any documents or communications he has that relate to Jim Biden, Joe Biden’s brother, or Americore, questioning if O’Connor is “in a position to provide accurate and independent reviews of the President’s fitness to serve.”

Jim Biden requested O’Connor’s help in 2017 — when Joe Biden was out of office — as part of his work linked to Americore, according to emails previously obtained by POLITICO and Jim Biden’s closed-door interview as part of the impeachment inquiry. That includes Jim Biden and O’Connor meeting with the head of a Pennsylvania hospital that Americore was in the process of acquiring in July 2017, POLITICO previously reported.

Rep. John Curtis’ quest for Utah’s open Senate seat is notable for one of the groups lining up on his side — a major national climate organization.

Curtis, who founded the House’s Conservative Climate Caucus, has won the endorsement of EDF Action, the advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund, one of the most influential green groups in the country. It comes even as other green activists are lining up — as environmental groups more commonly do — on the Democratic side of the race.

His 17-point win over a Donald Trump-backed rival in June’s GOP primary put the four-term House member on a glide path to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Mitt Romney. And it exposed a split in the traditionally Democratic-leaning environmental community over how to respond to GOP lawmakers who back action to fight climate change, despite the party’s overwhelming priority on promoting fossil fuels.

Curtis, a heavy favorite to win the general election in November, could be in a position to provide a crucial GOP vote against a gutting of President Joe Biden’s energy and climate policies during a second Trump administration. He voted against Biden’s massive climate law but has said he supports pieces of it and rejected calls for a wholesale repeal.

Unlike many other politically active environmental groups, EDF Action has frequently backed moderate Republicans or partnered with companies that other green activists shun. But Curtis was the first Republican it has backed in this year’s primaries, said group President David Kieve, the Biden White House’s former national director of climate and conservation engagement, adding that it has spent $100,000 for a radio campaign supporting him.

EDF has a history of “looking for opportunities to support good Republicans that align with us on a lot of our issues,” Kieve said, calling Curtis’ engagement on climate issues “authentic” and “results oriented.”

And he argued it was practical for EDF to get involved to assure the defeat of more hard-right-leaning candidates — especially since Utah’s Senate seat will almost certainly remain in Republican hands. The state has not sent a Democrat to the chamber since 1970.

In an interview, Curtis said he was “grateful for” the support from EDF Action, even though he did not seek out the group’s backing and is not “100 percent” aligned with its positions.

“I joke with some people, I am your least worst alternative,” Curtis said. “And so, if I am EDF’s least worst alternative, people should acknowledge it is what it is.”

Another leading green group — the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund — has endorsed Curtis’ general election opponent, Democratic nominee Caroline Gleich, an environmental activist and professional ski mountaineer. The group will devote resources toward defeating Curtis despite the fact he is heavily favored to beat Gleich, who has never served in elected office.

Craig Auster, the LCV Action Fund’s vice president of political affairs, said it’s a mistake to distinguish Curtis from other Republicans given his votes against Democratic-led climate initiatives — most prominently the Inflation Reduction Act.

Curtis has received a 6 percent lifetime score from the environmental group, although that rose to a high of 16 percent in 2022.

“What he is saying doesn’t match his voting record. Voting against the IRA — the biggest climate action ever taken — is not pro-climate,” Auster said.

Kieve acknowledged Curtis’ thin support for environmental measures in Congress but said Republican alternatives in Utah were far worse.

“I don’t want to go line by line on his voting record,” Kieve said. “But the Senate would be much better served with John Curtis there than his extreme MAGA opponent.”

Despite the involvement of national green groups, Curtis’ stance on climate issues was not a major factor in the primary, which was dominated by economic issues and immigration.

Utah Republicans frequently reject hard-right candidates in favor of moderates like Curtis and Romney.

Their views on climate change contrast sharply with the state’s other senator, Mike Lee, one of the Senate’s staunchest critics of climate science, who appears poised to lead the party in the powerful Energy and Natural Resources Committee — possibly as chair if Republicans win control of the Senate.

Curtis has previously defended his decision to stick with Republicans in voting against the IRA by criticizing Democrats for using the partisan reconciliation process that allowed them to pass it with a simple majority in the Senate.

He notes he has supported individual pieces of the sprawling climate bill, such as tax incentives for carbon capture, nuclear and hydrogen projects. And Curtis has pushed back against calls from Trump and other Republicans to repeal the law, acknowledging that GOP states and districts are reaping the benefits of it in the form of tens of billions of dollars in planned investments by companies into renewable energy, battery and electric vehicle projects.

Curtis, in the interview, also dismissed the importance of LCV opposing him, suggesting the group’s decision is representative of its partisan leanings.

“I have become so comfortable with my message that if there are some groups who don’t like it … great,” Curis said. “What I find is the more thoughtful people don’t land there. And the more thoughtful you are, the more influence you are going to have in bringing this [climate change] to be a non-partisan issue and making progress.”

On the trail, Curtis defended his engagement on climate issues by arguing Republicans would have no platform to compete with Democratic policies he says would lead to the demise of fossil fuels — which are still dominant in his district and state despite greater awareness among voters about warming impacts.

“It didn’t become the central point of the campaign,” Curtis said.

That means some observers — including other Republicans in Congress active on climate issues — were cautious about drawing conclusions from Curtis’ primary win.

“I don’t know whether I can read that much into it,” said Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), a vice chair of the Conservative Climate Caucus.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), who recently announced he won’t run for reelection after being ranking member of Democrats’ Select Committee on the Climate Crisis in 2019, noted that Curtis already has a firmly established reputation in Utah that helped him.

“John is a really thoughtful guy, somebody who really digs into issues, tries to figure out what’s the right thing to do — in some cases putting political implications aside,” Graves said. “There are obviously much more broad issues that affect that state [other than climate change].”

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), a colleague of Curtis’ on the House Natural Resources Committee, said he was “pleased” to see Curtis defeat further-right candidates in the primary.

“Curtis is by the standards of the modern Republican Party as good as you get,” Huffman said.

But he’s skeptical other Republicans will draw conclusions from Curtis being successful while leaning into climate action.

“I don’t think anyone can read some great thawing of climate denial into this. It’s still thick in the Republican party ecosystem,” Huffman said.

President Joe Biden’s first televised interview since last week’s debate meltdown did little to stop the bleeding.

Members of Congress and top Democratic operatives told POLITICO shortly after Biden’s sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos aired that the president was more energetic and forceful than he was on stage during last week’s showdown with Donald Trump — but it likely won’t be enough to tame the panic.

And many were shocked by the president’s blatant denial about his standing in the race, and his repeated dismissal of his party’s widespread concerns. It’s an approach some Democrats described as “dangerous.”

“He was more animated and made a strong case for what he has done. But the question the debate raised is about his fitness for the next four years, not his performance in the past four years,” said David Axelrod, the longtime Democratic operative who helped lead Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. “And he simply doesn’t acknowledge that concern. He also is in denial about where he is in this race.”

A House Democrat, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said: “Denial of the problem is not a solution or a path forward to convincing our constituents that he has the capacity or the vision for four more years.”

And another Democratic operative who has advised the White House called the interview a “stay of execution” but added that the president’s “acceptance of losing to Trump as long as he tried his best will make his hand significantly worse with every Democratic office holder who does not want to lose their seat.”

The freakout inside the Democratic Party has continued to metastasize in recent days. Few Democratic strategists believe the president’s interview on Friday will stem the onrush of Democratic incumbents and candidates who will call for Biden’s ouster. Already, four members have said they believe Biden should step down as the nominee, and another two have said they don’t believe Biden can beat Trump. And when Congress reconvenes next week, many in the party are bracing for more defectors.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is set to meet Sunday afternoon virtually with Democratic ranking members of committees to discuss mounting concerns over Biden, according to two people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to speak freely about the meeting. And Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has approached Senate Democrats to organize a discussion on Biden’s path forward. Both chambers of Congress will be back in Washington from their Fourth of July recess for votes Monday evening, when Democratic leaders will inevitably have to address the topic in person with rank-and-file members.

“Democrats have spent the last few days trying to give him space and grace,” said a former Biden administration official. “Because he’s digging in, we’re seeing an effort to take it up a notch or two. And that should be more worrying to the Biden operation than anything.”

The ABC interview was framed by some Biden allies as a pivotal opportunity for the president to convince his party that he’s up to the task. It came as polls show him in his worst electoral position of the 2024 election, as more voters than ever have an unfavorable opinion of Biden, believe he’s too old to run again and want someone else to lead the Democratic ticket.

A defiant Biden held a campaign event in Wisconsin on Friday before recording the interview. He repeatedly said on Friday — at his event, on social media, during the interview and in fundraising emails — that he wasn’t dropping out of the race, and he used the ABC interview to dismiss his devastatingly low polling numbers and growing pleas for him to step aside.

“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” Biden said. “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”

Biden’s repeated dismissals and refusal to seriously address concerns about his age and mental acuity struck many Democrats watching the interview closely. A Democratic official who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign said it appears Biden’s team “isn’t being straight with him, and that’s dangerous.”

And Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said she particularly found Biden’s answer about taking a cognitive test unnerving.

“I found the answer about taking a cognitive test every day to be unsettling and not particularly convincing, so I will be watching closely every day to see how he is doing, especially in spontaneous situations,” she said.

On the hill, Democrats have discussed gathering signatures for letters that would call on Biden to step aside. Those efforts are likely to pick up steam once they gather again in Washington. A growing number of Democratic members and operatives have said privately — and a few publicly — that they believe Biden will be a serious drain on their efforts to wrest back control of the House.

“I think the self-interest of the guys on the ballot will be what sinks him. Once people realize he’s going to take everyone down with him,” said an aide to a Democratic governor, granted anonymity to frankly discuss the situation.

The Biden campaign described Biden’s performance Friday — a rally in Wisconsin followed by his interview with Stephanopoulos — as “forceful” in talking points, noting that he answered every question, gave remarks to a over 1,000 supporters and answered questions from the traveling press pool, according to talking points obtained by POLITICO.

“Overall, the takeaway was clear: President Biden is clear-eyed and he’s fully in this race to win,” according to talking points circulated by the Biden campaign.

A handful of Biden allies came out forcefully in defense of the president. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) repeated Friday that Biden is the party nominee and that Dems need to “get a spine or grow a set.” Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Biden is “who our country needs,” while Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) shared the interview and said he can’t wait to help Biden “continue to take the fight to Trump and win in November.”

But their positive reviews did little to convince Democrats overall that Biden is well-situated to beat Trump.

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) became the latest member of Congress to call for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race earlier Friday, joining his House Democratic colleagues Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) and Seth Moutlon (Mass.).

“Your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude,” Quigley said on MSNBC Friday evening. “The only thing you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.”

Elena Schneider, Daniella Diaz, Brakkton Booker, Ally Mutnick, Eli Stokols, Adam Cancryn and Shia Kapos contributed to this report.