President Joe Biden has admitted it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “target” on Republican election rival Donald Trump ahead of an assassination attempt on the former president.
In an interview with NBC News, Biden argued that his opponent’s rhetoric was more incendiary and warned that Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.
The interview marked the Democrats’ resumption of campaigning following Saturday’s assassination attempt, which came after Biden told donors on a private call that he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and that it was “time to put Trump on the spot,” saying Trump has received too little scrutiny over his stances, rhetoric and campaigning failure.
While acknowledging his “mistake,” Biden told NBC he was “not the guy who said he wanted to be a dictator on Day 1” and wanted the focus to be on what Trump was saying, accusing his rival of engaging in such rhetoric, referring to the former president’s previous comments about a “bloodbath” if he loses in November.
“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Biden asked. “Do you say nothing because it might incite someone?”
The NBC interview, scheduled before the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, had been part of a broader strategy by Biden to demonstrate his suitability for office after his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate.
In the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, Biden’s campaign pulled advertising from the air while the White House cancelled the president’s planned visit on Monday to the Lyndon B Johnson Library, where he was due to deliver remarks on civil rights.
Biden spoke privately with Trump after the assassination attempt, a call the president described in the NBC interview as “very cordial.”
“I told him how concerned I was and wanted to make sure I knew how he was really doing,” Biden said. “He seemed fine. He said he was fine and thanked me for calling.”
“I told him he was literally in Jill’s and my prayers, and I hoped his entire family was getting through this.”
Biden’s renewed campaign comes at a time when Democrats have been deadlocked over whether the incumbent president should continue in the race, even as he has been defiant that he would stay.
Mr. Biden has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he is still in the race, and his advisers have been acting as such.
Asked by NBC interviewer Lester Holt if he had gotten over the worst of his own party, Biden said 14 million Democratic voters elected him through the primaries, adding: “I hear them.”
He said his mental acuity was “pretty good,” but added that it was “legitimate” to ask about his age.
The president and his campaign also criticized Trump, who was confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee, nominating freshman Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate.
“He’s a clone of Trump on those issues,” Biden told reporters as he headed to Nevada for a series of speeches and campaign rallies. “I don’t see any difference.”
The president’s staff issued a statement saying Vance had been chosen because he “would go out of his way to support Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda.”
