MSNBC host Joe Scarborough defended President Joe Biden’s reelection and slammed “media elites” for telling Biden to step down following the president’s disastrous debate.

On Monday during “Morning Joe,” Scarborough reversed course and said Biden needs to run in 2024 after previously telling his viewers that Biden should think about dropping out and claimed that “unless there’s a change” Biden will lose — after the president struggled during the CNN presidential debate against former President Donald Trump, the Washington Examiner reported.

“So Biden allies, now, this is what they’re going to say, ‘Oh, wait a second, so you’re telling me that media elites and billionaire donors and Washington politicians and Washington [sic] moguls, they all think that they can substitute their judgment for the judgment of millions of Democratic primary voters?’” Scarborough said.

Joe Scarborough Blasts ‘Media Elite’ for Pressuring Biden to Drop Out — Just 10 Days After He Called for a Change https://t.co/zQcP6iYEps

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 8, 2024

“John Heilemann, it may happen. And this isn’t about what ought to be, this is about what is, and you know, Joe Biden has a fired up, angry Democratic base in parts, and he’s gotten a lot of elites putting him in a position where he can look strong, staring them down,” he added.

Later on the show, Biden, 81, whose last two weeks have been punctuated by a disastrous debate performance followed by an “incoherent” interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, seemed equal parts frustrated and belligerent when “Morning Joe” anchors Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski pressed him about his cognitive state, as previously reported.

“So, but look, I had a bad night,” Biden said, after claiming he had some kind of infection during the debate. “But the fact of the matter is … look at what I’m doing, I mean, let me put it this way. If there was something that was wrong that night, it’s not like it’s [unintelligible] that’s one night and goes away, that’s why I’ve been out. I’ve been testing myself everywhere I go. Going out and making the case. The night of that debate I went out, I was out until two o’clock in the morning. That very night! That very night! It drives me NUTS people talking about this!”

Following the CNN debate, the MSNBC host asked if Biden could even “run for president in 2024? Donald Trump lied over and over and over and over again, and Joe Biden couldn’t respond to any of those lies,” Mediaite noted.

“In fact, as The New York Times said, he spent much of the night with his mouth agape and his eyes darting back and forth,” Scarborough said. “He couldn’t fact-check anything Donald Trump said. Not only that, but he missed one layup after another…”

He said despite Biden being “cogent” during the time he spent with him in March, the president “simply was not, on the biggest debate stage ever. And I think what surprised me, and what surprised a lot of people very close to Joe Biden, is the fact that this man always rises to the occasion.”

“And last night was sadly for him and I believe, for Democrats in this country…I’ll use the word tragically, tragically did not rise to the occasion last night,” Scarborough said.

Related: ‘Morning Joe’ Host Dragged For Claim That Biden Is Sharper Than Kevin McCarthy

Congress is back in session, which means Democrats are now going to have to answer questions about whether Joe Biden ought to remain the nominee.

The big question in Democratic circles is whether he stays or whether he goes. Biden’s a stubborn old man, so he really wants to stay. He is now channeling Jennifer Holliday from the original Broadway production of “Dreamgirls”: “I’m staying, I’m staying. And you, and you, you’re gonna love me.”

Last Friday, Biden tweeted out that he is staying. He stated, “Let me say this as clearly as I can: I’m the sitting President of the United States. I’m the nominee of the Democratic party. I’m staying in the race.”

We know that’s not really what he would say if he could say it as clearly as he could because if he could say it verbally, it would sound more like this: “Let me say this: ipqucovmskcuecyehw, c’mon, man.”

The same day of the tweet, Biden held a rally in Wisconsin where he insisted he would not drop out. At this rally, he said, “You probably heard he had a little debate last week. I can’t say it’s my best performance. But ever since then, there’s been a lot of speculation: What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do? Well, here’s my answer: I am going to run and I’m going to win again.”

WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show

There was only one problem at this rally where he was trying to pretend to be alive: He died on the stage. He explained that he was going to win again in 2020. Apparently, Biden either has a mental problem, or he has discovered a time machine.

“I will beat Donald Trump. I will beat him again in 2020,” he yelled.

At the very least, if he’s going to use the time machine, he should go back to 1856 and beat James Buchanan.

A new survey from CNN says that 75% of voters think the Democratic Party would have a better chance against Donald Trump if they backed another candidate. More than 50% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters agreed with that election sentiment.

That is a massive problem for Biden. He is stubborn as he wants to be, but the pressure is ratcheting up inside the Democratic Party, and it became stronger on Friday night with the interview he did with George Stephanopoulos.

The presidential nomination was at stake in the interview because if Biden had appeared lively and sprightly, if his lie that his debate with Trump was just an off-night looked like it was true, he might have been able to get this train back on the rails.

The question was whether Stephanopoulos was going to try to massage him back into some form of actual living embodiment or whether he would put a pillow over his face and smother the old man.

It turned out that he was going to put a pillow over his face and smother the old man.

WATCH: Ben Shapiro’s new three-part series: “Scamala: Kamala Harris Unmasked” on DailyWire+

He wasn’t asking particularly hard questions if Biden were essentially a person and not a vegetable. But the problem is that Biden is now a rutabaga.

Stephanopoulos asked Biden: “Are you the same man today that you were when he took office three-and-a-half years ago?”

Biden: “In terms of successes, yes.”

Stephanopoulos: “But what has all that work over the last three-and-a-half years cost you physically, mentally, emotionally?”

Biden: “Well, I– I– I just think it cost me a really bad night, bad run.”

Stephanopoulos: “What I’m asking you is, about your personal situation. Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last several months?” 

Biden: “Can I run the 100 (meters) in 10 flat? No, but I’m still in good shape.”

Stephanopoulos: “Are you more frail?”

Biden “No.”

Meanwhile, Stephanopoulos is thinking of sneaking behind the hospital bed to pull the plug.

In that interview, one of the people on the screen was going to exit that interview dead: either Stephanopoulos for trying to massage Biden back to life or Biden with the plug pulled by Stephanopoulos.

They had to ratchet up the audio level in order to pick up the voice of the president of the United States because that’s how weak he was in this interview. Stephanopoulos, for his part, was really trying to push Biden over the cliff while Biden was grabbing like a cartoon character onto the edge of the cliff with his fingernails like Wile E. Coyote.

CNN reported that after the interview, team Biden thought he did amazingly well. Of course they were going to say that because what were they going to say? That he did horribly?

Meanwhile, we now know that Hunter Biden is the gatekeeper for the president of the United States, according to Axios, who reported, “We’re now in uncharted, historic waters: President Biden — backed by first lady Jill Biden and his convicted son, Hunter, who’s serving as de facto gatekeeper for longtime friends — says that nothing, besides an act of God, will persuade him to quit his re-election campaign.”

When Congress comes back into session, there will be reporters all over the House and they’ll be asking every Democratic House member if they believe that Biden is either sentient or whether he can beat Donald Trump.

It’s going to be a disaster area for Joe Biden this week.