US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put Donald Trump “on target” after coming under fire for using rhetoric that could have led to an assassination attempt on the former US president.
Several Trump supporters have accused Biden and his fellow Democrats of fomenting animosity toward Trump, pointing to Biden’s comments during a private call with donors, where he reportedly said it’s “time to put Trump on the spot.”
In an interview with NBC News, Biden defended his comments, saying: “I didn’t say ‘on target.’ I meant ‘on target.’ I meant focus on him. Focus on what he’s doing, focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate.”
“There are a whole series of things to keep in mind. I’m not the guy who said he wanted to be a dictator from day one, I’m not the guy who refused to accept the result of the election. I’m not the guy who said he wouldn’t automatically accept the result of this election. You can’t love your country only when you win. So the focus was on what he’s saying, and I mean the idea,” he added.
Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, the newly elected vice president, had alleged Biden’s involvement in the shooting at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally on Sunday, in which he was wounded in the right ear. The suspect and an aide were killed in the incident.
“Today is not an isolated incident,” Vance said.
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump,” he added in a post on X.
Biden called Vance a “Trump clone on these issues” and said, “He talks a lot about working people, but now he and Trump want to raise taxes on middle-class families while pushing for more tax cuts for the wealthy.”
Several Trump supporters have accused Biden and his fellow Democrats of fomenting animosity toward Trump, pointing to Biden’s comments during a private call with donors, where he reportedly said it’s “time to put Trump on the spot.”
In an interview with NBC News, Biden defended his comments, saying: “I didn’t say ‘on target.’ I meant ‘on target.’ I meant focus on him. Focus on what he’s doing, focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate.”
“There are a whole series of things to keep in mind. I’m not the guy who said he wanted to be a dictator from day one, I’m not the guy who refused to accept the result of the election. I’m not the guy who said he wouldn’t automatically accept the result of this election. You can’t love your country only when you win. So the focus was on what he’s saying, and I mean the idea,” he added.
Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, the newly elected vice president, had alleged Biden’s involvement in the shooting at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally on Sunday, in which he was wounded in the right ear. The suspect and an aide were killed in the incident.
“Today is not an isolated incident,” Vance said.
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump,” he added in a post on X.
Biden called Vance a “Trump clone on these issues” and said, “He talks a lot about working people, but now he and Trump want to raise taxes on middle-class families while pushing for more tax cuts for the wealthy.”
