Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., a moderate who has for months publicly argued that President Joe Biden should not run for reelection, announced his candidacy for president Thursday, setting up an underdog challenge for the Democratic nomination.

In an interview with CBS News, Phillips — who plans to officially launch his campaign Friday in New Hampshire — argued that finding an alternative to Biden was essential because of polling showing the president at risk of losing to former President Donald Trump.

“I will not sit still and not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying that we’re going to be facing an emergency next November,” he said.

Late Thursday evening, he posted his campaign announcement on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, saying, “It’s time to put our country back together again.”

Phillips, a third-term congressman who represents a district that includes suburban Minneapolis, enters the race with long-shot odds.

The Democratic establishment and major donors have already lined up behind Biden, who raised $71.3 million with the Democratic National Committee and his joint fundraising committee during the three-month reporting period that ended Sept. 30.

Phillips will also need to work fast to get his name on the ballot in several early-voting states. Already, he has missed the deadline to appear on the ballot in Nevada, the second nominating state on a new presidential primary calendar approved by the national committee this year.

Phillips, 54, has for months stressed his belief that Biden, 80, should face a serious primary challenge, citing the president’s age and low approval ratings as evidence that Democrats are eager for a new generation of candidates. (Several Republican candidates have made similar arguments in their bids against former President Donald Trump, who is 77.)

An heir to a Minnesota liquor company who also ran the gelato company Talenti, Phillips was first elected in 2018, as part of a wave of Democrats who flipped Republican-held suburban districts in a backlash to Trump. He stepped down from a position in

Democratic leadership in the House this month as he weighed joining the presidential race.

Phillips will join two other primary challengers to the president: Marianne Williamson, a self-help author who unsuccessfully ran against Biden in 2020, and Cenk Uygur, the co-creator and co-host of the progressive talk show “The Young Turks.”

Another candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had initially planned to compete for the Democratic nomination but announced this month that he would instead run for president as an independent candidate.

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Hundreds of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters and fans packed into a gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to send a message to Republicans: the primary is over.

Top Trump donors mingled around the pool at Mar-a-lago before heading into a fundraiser at Trump’s private club with MAGA stars like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), recently impeached and acquitted Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) to hear him blast President Joe Biden and promote his 2024 campaign.

Standing at a podium, Trump recognized Greene, Donalds, and Paxton, as well as Roseanne Barr, the outspoken comedian, for her support. He also called Larry Elder, the California talk radio personality on stage. Earlier on Thursday evening, Elder dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

“Larry said don’t worry about it, when I drop out, you’re the guy and I love you and I love him,” Trump said. Former NFL stars Mike and Maurkice Pouncey were also seen at the event.

It was estimated that around $6 million was brought in for Trump’s 2024 efforts, according to figures announced at the event, an amount that would make Tuesday night’s fundraiser one of the biggest single night hauls of his 2024 campaign. A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not comment.

In a speech that went over an hour and a half, Trump touted his lead in the polls, taunted his opponents including Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and talked about his record in the White House.

“His speech was very forward, very focused on how bad things are and what he would do to fix all of it in short order,” said Bill White, CEO of Constellations Group and former CEO of the Intrepid Museum in New York City, as well as a longtime friend of Trump. White attended with his husband, Bryan Eure, who is senior vice president of Willis Towers Watson.

White said Trump boasted of his foreign policy chops, insisting that as president he would rein in Iran, North Korea, China and Hamas and promising to reduce the price of gasoline.

“While his polls have gone up, he said gloves are off with Biden,” he added, noting Trump insulted Biden’s intelligence by comparing him unfavorably to former President Jimmy Carter.

The fundraiser comes days after three lawyers aligned with his efforts following the 2020 election pleaded guilty in Georgia. Over a dozen other people are charged with aiding the former president in what prosecutors have described as an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Trump also spent two days in court this week defending his company in a civil fraud trial in New York.

This coming weekend, Trump will be appearing with his 2024 challengers in Las Vegas at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual conference.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, the previously little-known Louisiana Republican who claimed the chamber’s gavel this week after 22 days of chaos, gave a wide-ranging interview to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night. Here are Johnson’s top 12 lines from that interview.

1.     President Joe Biden

“If you look at a tape of Joe Biden making an argument in the Senate Judiciary Committee a few years ago and you see a speech that he delivers now, there’s a difference. Again, it’s not a personal insult to him. It’s just reality.”

2.    The Biden administration

“I think it’s been a failed presidency.”

3.    Foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel

“I told the staff at the White House today that our consensus among House Republicans is that we need to bifurcate those issues.”

4.     Foreign policy

“We can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine because I don’t believe it would stop there. It would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan. We have these concerns.”

5.   U.S. boots on the ground in Israel

“It’s a very delicate situation; it changes by the hour. We’re watching it very closely. We certainly hope that it doesn’t come to boots on the ground.”

6.   Palestinian aid

“They use the Palestinians as shields. They don’t even provide the people with clean drinking water. We’re supposed to believe they’re going to use U.S. aid for humanitarian purposes? Count me as a skeptic, OK.”

7.   Biden impeachment

“If, in fact, all the evidence leads to where we believe it will, that’s very likely impeachable offenses.”

8.   China

“China is a near peer-to-peer adversary to us right now, and their goal is to rebuild the empire. So we’re doing everything we can to ensure we maintain our military superiority.”

9.     Motion to vacate

“I think we’re going to change it.”

10.  Stopgap budget measure

“We’re working through this with the ideas and trying to ensure that if another stopgap measure is required, that we do it with certain conditions.”

11.  Gay marriage

“This has been settled by the Supreme Court in the Obergefell opinion in 2015. So, that’s the decision. … I’m a constitutional law attorney, I respect that and we move forward.”

12. Abortion

“There’s no national consensus for the people on what to do with that issue on a federal issue for certain.”