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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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’.