Biden challenger Dean Phillips defied his party's efforts to squash the primary process, saying that he would "win as a Democrat."
The Democratic presidential candidate joined "Fox & Friends" Monday ahead of the New Hampshire primary. Biden chose to skip the state's primary entirely after New Hampshire declined to give up its first primary slot to South Carolina.
Phillips said he felt compelled to enter the race because his party needs new leadership and Americans aren't on board with Biden.
"I see this trainwreck occurring and someone has to say the quiet part out loud. All I'm doing is saying the truth," he said.
Poll after poll has shown a majority of Americans, and even Democrats, want a different candidate on the 2024 ballot, citing the president's age and increasing dissatisfaction with the economy.
Phillips has been open about his belief that Biden's dismal approval ratings are because Americans think he is too old to continue leading the country.
"He is not standing in front of the press. He is not here meeting voters. He is not answering questions. He is not doing town halls and he won’t do debates. I think he is a good man. I don’t think he has cognitive issues. But he is 81 years old, he's in decline. By the way, we have issues coming down the pipeline; Artificial Intelligence, wars in the Middle East and in Europe. A southern border that’s a disaster. And costs are out of control. We need new leadership. That’s what this is about more than anything," Phillips argued.
Despite being a long-shot candidate, Phillips reiterated his high hopes to secure the nomination.
"We started at 0% ten weeks ago, last tracking poll yesterday, 32%. People want change," he argued.
The Biden challenger also shot down rumors he was considering a third party run.
"I'm a Democrat, I'm going to run as a Democrat and I'm going to win as a Democrat," he insisted.
Iowa and New Hampshire have historically been the first states in the Democrats' election process. However, President Biden and the DNC attempted to change the primary calendar this year to kick off with South Carolina, a state that propelled the president to victory in 2020, to try and increase racial diversity in the election process.
The Democratic National Committee called the New Hampshire election outcome "meaningless."
While Biden supporters are organizing a write-in campaign to prevent Phillips from securing a win, he still says he hopes to secure upward of 20% of the vote.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Landon Mion contributed to this report.
