U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks following the incident at a campaign rally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, U.S., July 13, 2024.
Tom Brenner | Via Reuters
President Joe Biden said he shouldn’t have used language about “putting Trump on the spot,” a comment he made to donors on a private call days before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.
“It was a mistake to use that word,” Biden said, according to excerpts from a Monday interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt. “I meant to say let’s focus on him. On what he’s doing, on his policies, on the number of lies he told in the debate.”
“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Biden asked rhetorically. “Do you just say nothing, because you might incite someone?”
“Look, I haven’t used that rhetoric,” Biden said. “Now, my opponent has used that rhetoric. He talks about there being a bloodbath if he loses.”
On Saturday, multiple shots were fired at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, killing one attendee in the crowd and seriously wounding two others. One bullet grazed the former president’s ear before he was covered by Secret Service and quickly removed from the stage. The suspected gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, died several moments after the shots were fired.
Questions and conspiracy theories soon began to emerge on social media as the public processed the horrific events of Saturday night.
Several Republican lawmakers blamed Democratic campaign rhetoric for inciting the shooting, including Biden’s ill-timed comment about the shooting.
Monday’s interview comes as Biden works to rehabilitate his political image after his disastrous debate performance against Trump in June.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
