JOE Biden admitted it was a mistake to discuss putting Donald Trump “on target” just days before an assassination attempt on the former president.
In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday, Biden stressed that he was referring to the level of focus on Trump’s agenda at the time, insisting that there wasn’t enough.
However, the president defended his statement, saying in retrospect that he regrets using the word “target” after Saturday’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
But Biden emphasizes that his message remains the same.
“What I was saying at the time was that there is very little focus on Trump’s agenda.” the president told Holt.
“I didn’t mean aim or target,” Biden explained.
“I intended to 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’s a whole range of things,” Biden said.
“I wasn’t the guy who said he wanted to be a dictator from day one, I’m not the guy who refused to accept the election results,” he continued.
When asked if he thinks there is anything he said in the past that may have “incited” people, Biden again defended his previous statements.
“I’m not involved in that rhetoric,” he said.
“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says the things he says,” Biden asked Holt.
“You just don’t say it because it might incite someone?”
Biden then attacked Trump, saying that the former is actively engaging in this type of rhetoric, citing Trump’s previous statements, such as that the country would turn into a “bloodbath” if he lost the next election.
“Now, if I’m not elected, it will be a bloodbath for the country, that will be the least,” Trump said at a rally in Ohio in March.
“If this election isn’t won, I’m not sure there will be another election in this country,” Trump added.
Biden attacked this statement and others, such as Trump promising to pardon everyone found guilty of crimes involving January 6, and even when Trump joked about Nancy Pelosi’s husband being attacked with a hammer.
Biden said he believes these statements are examples of Trump and his use of really violent rhetoric that is really responsible for the turmoil in this election cycle.
‘I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS POSSIBLE’
On Sunday, both Trump and Biden called for unity within the country following Saturday’s attempt on Trump’s life.
In just the third speech given from the Oval Office during his presidency, Biden addressed the American people on Sunday in a 9-minute speech calling for peace.
“My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need to lower the temperature in our politics,” he said.
“Remember, although we may disagree, we are not enemies. We are neighbors, we are friends, we are coworkers, we are citizens, and most importantly, we are fellow Americans.
“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy,” Biden continued.
Leaving aside differing opinions, the president said that politics should never turn into “a killing field”.
“I shouldn’t be here, I should be dead,” Trump told The New York Post Office Sunday night.
In his first interview after his brush with death, Trump suggested a possible change in approach for the next four months leading up to the election.
“All I prepared was an extremely tough, really good speech about the corrupt, horrible administration,” he told the Post about a speech he prepared for this week’s Republican National Convention.
“But I threw it away,” Trump said.
Trump said he is revamping his speech in an attempt to “try to unite the country.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible,” he said.
“People are very divided.”
More to follow… For the latest on this story, come back often to The US Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping photos and must-see attractions. videos
Like us on Facebook at TheSunUSA and follow us on X at @TheUSSun
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
