President Joe Biden said it was a “mistake” to recently say former President Donald Trump should be “put in the spotlight” in light of the failed assassination attempt on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Earlier this month, Biden, a Democrat, told donors in a private call reported by Politico that he wanted them to put their widely criticized debate performance behind them and focus on defeating Trump.
“We have to move forward. Look, we’re about 40 days from the convention and 120 days from the election. We can’t waste any more time distracting ourselves,” Biden said.
Receive our latest news for FREE
Sign up to receive daily or weekly emails with top stories (and special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
“I have one job, and that is to defeat Donald Trump. I am absolutely certain that I am the best person to do that. So we are done talking about the debate; it is time to put Trump at the centre of the battlefield.”
During an interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt on Monday, Biden commented on his previous comments, saying it was a “mistake” to use that term to refer to his opponent. He also suggested the word is a figure of speech and noted that Trump has also used violent rhetoric.
“I didn’t say ‘crosshairs,’ I meant ‘bull’s-eye.’ I meant let’s focus on him. On what he’s doing. On his policies. On the number of lies he told in the debate. On a whole range of things,” Biden said.
Biden maintains that Trump’s rhetoric is dangerous. He cited comments from last December in which the former president appeared to suggest he might abuse his power “in retaliation” on “day one” of his presidency. In response to that comment at the time, the Biden campaign claimed Trump would “be a dictator from day one.”
“Look, I’m not the guy who said, ‘I want to be a dictator from Day 1.’ I’m not the guy who refused to accept the outcome of the election,” Biden told Holt, referring to Trump’s widely disproven claims that voter fraud was responsible for his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
“I’m not the guy who said I wouldn’t automatically accept the outcome of this election. You can’t love your country only when you win. And so the focus was on what he’s saying and, I mean, on the idea.”
Biden asked rhetorically: “How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he does? Do you say nothing because it might incite someone?”
On Saturday night, a gunman opened fire during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, striking Trump in the ear, killing one rally-goer and wounding several others before he was killed.
The deceased gunman was later identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, a registered Republican who had donated $15 to a liberal advocacy group through Act Blue in 2021. The motive for the shooting remains unknown.
“Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, for it was only God who prevented the unthinkable from happening. WE WILL NOT FEAR,” Trump said Sunday morning.
“We pray for the recovery of those injured and carry in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was murdered in such a horrible manner. At this time, it is more important than ever that we stand together and show our true character as Americans, by remaining strong and determined and not allowing evil to triumph.”
