Biden says ‘targeted’ comment about Trump is a mistake and defends mental fitness | 2024 US Election News

United States President Joe Biden said it was wrong to say that Donald Trump should be put “on the spot”, but defended his representation of his Republican rival as a threat to democracy.

In his first television interview since Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt, Biden said comments he made on a private call with donors were intended to focus on his opponent’s policies and character.

“It was a mistake to use the word. I didn’t say ‘aim’. I meant target, focus on him, focus on what he’s doing,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt on Monday.

“Focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate.”

Asked whether he had done any “soul searching” about his rhetoric since the attempt on Trump’s life, Biden said it was appropriate to highlight the dangers posed by Trump and denied using inflammatory language like his rival.

“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he does? Do you just say nothing because it might incite someone?” Biden said.

“Look, I didn’t engage in that rhetoric. Now, my opponent has engaged in this rhetoric. He says there will be a bloodbath if he loses.”

Biden’s comments came after several prominent Republicans, including Trump’s vice presidential running mate DJ Vance, accused the president and his allies of creating conditions for violence through their rhetoric that cast Trump as a threat. existential to democracy.

Biden, who has made preserving U.S. democracy a key message of his re-election campaign, temporarily suspended television ads and an appearance in Texas following the attack but will resume his campaign with several events this week in the swing state of Nevada. .

Trump came within inches of death on Saturday after a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, hitting the former president in the right ear.

Corey Compatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief, was killed and several others were injured in the attack.

Authorities have not yet identified the motive of the alleged shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who was shot to death shortly after opening fire.

The assassination attempt sparked widespread calls for a reset of bitter US politics, with Biden and Trump appealing to Americans to put political divisions aside and come together.

Biden on Sunday called on Americans to “lower the temperature in our politics,” while Trump said in a newspaper interview that he would rewrite his speech to the Republican National Committee to emphasize the need for unity.

Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley on Monday continued the theme of unity at the opening of the RNC, telling supporters, “We must come together as a party and we must come together as a nation.”

Trump made his first public appearance since the RNC attack on Monday, receiving an enthusiastic reception from supporters as he entered Fiserv Forum Stadium to the tunes of “God Bless the USA.”

Although the effect of the attack on Trump on the race is not yet clear, some analysts have suggested that it is likely to reinforce his position in polls, which already show Biden behind, both nationally and in key states.

In his interview with NBC News, Biden, 81, reiterated his determination to stay in the race despite concerns about his age and physical condition that surfaced after his poor debate performance against Trump last month.

In response to a question about whether he believed he had resisted calls for him to resign within his own party, Biden said 14 million Democratic voters had chosen him as their candidate.

“I hear you,” Biden said.

Asked who would hear about the decision to remain in the race, Biden himself said.

“The idea that I’m the old man – I am, I’m old. But I’m only three years older than Trump, number one,” he said.

“And number two, my mental acuity has been really good. I was able to do more than any president in a long, long time, in three and a half years.”