Former President Donald Trump said he doesn’t expect President Biden to drop out of the 2024 contest due to his “ego” during a prime-time appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday night.

“I think he might very well stay in, and if he doesn’t – nobody wants to give up that way – he’s going to feel badly about himself for a long time,” Trump, 78, said.

“He’s got an ego and doesn’t want to quit. I think Jill would like to see him stay, she’s having a good time. I’m hearing Hunter is calling the shots,” he mused.

“It’s hard to give it up that way the way they’re trying to force him out,” the former president said, alluding to the growing chorus of Democratic allies calling for Biden, 81, to step aside.

In the wide-ranging 18-minute phone interview, Trump’s first since his debate with Biden last month, host Sean Hannity probed the 2024 GOP standard bearer about his rival’s near-universally panned performance in the June 27 debate.

“Within minutes I could tell this was not going to be a good night for Joe Biden,” Trump said, highlighting his “extremely pale” appearance on the Atlanta stage.

“He was a very pale man, to put it nicely. I don’t know, maybe it was a good makeup job, maybe it wasn’t a good makeup job.”

His reviews on Biden’s performance were similarly critical.

“When he started to speak I thought his voice was weak, I didn’t know exactly what was happening. It was strange,” he said, describing Biden as going “a little haywire.”

As for the content of his opponent’s messaging, Trump said, “They weren’t even answers, they were just words put together that made no meaning or sense.”

Biden’s cognitive state has come under increasing scrutiny since his disastrous debate performance, followed by a series of subsequent appearances where he rambled incoherently or seemed dazed.

Hannity questioned Trump on Vice President Kamala Harris, whose name has been floated in recent days as the presumptive heir apparent should Biden surrender his candidacy.

“Well I think that it will be her,” Trump said of the unlikely event Biden steps down and is replaced at the top of the ticket.

He called the Democrats “gun shy” about the prospect of going with anybody other than Harris in his stead.

What to know about the calls for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race:

• President Biden’s poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate left some Democrats unsure of his fitness for office and future as the party’s candidate.
• More than a dozen congressional Democrats have joined in calling for Biden’s exit from the race. Former Biden supporter George Clooney echoed these calls in an op-ed published in the New York Times just weeks after he helped lead a record-breaking fundraiser for the Democrat.
• Democratic voters have continued to raise concerns about Biden’s nomination since the debate, with speculations and suggestions for replacement nominees running rampant.
• Biden’s former running mate Barack Obama has reportedly been trying to pressure him to drop out, and had prior knowledge of Clooney’s op-ed. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allegedly told Biden he could not beat former President Donald Trump this time around.
• As the Democratic National Convention approaches, California delegates for the Democratic Party are reportedly in disarray as debate over the president’s chances of re-election threatens to tear the party apart.
• However, the Biden campaign has denied any plans for Biden to bow out and for Kamala Harris to step in as the Democratic nominee. Sources close to the president believe he might not be willing to drop out, while other sources claim he is “receptive” to giving up on a second term.

“They don’t want to do it any other way.”

As for his reaction to the media’s about-face on denying Biden’s declining faculties, the ex-commander in chief said “it’s getting difficult to cover for him.”

When Hannity point-blank asked if he wanted Biden to step aside, Trump said simply, “we’ve prepared for him, but I don’t think it’s going to matter.”

The Fox News host concluded the interview by asking Trump when he expects to make an announcement about his potential running-mate choice, rattling off a few oft-mentioned shortlist contenders like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

The former president said the names he mentioned are “absolutely under consideration,” but said “I haven’t made a final decision but I have some ideas as to where we’re going.”

He said he’d be making an announcement “probably within the next week” and that it might even be at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisc. starting July 15.

“We’ll be announcing soon and I think everybody’s going to be very happy. The choice will be very good. Meaning, a person who can do a fantastic job as president — you always have to think about that first — and second, somebody who’s going to help you get elected, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”