By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden told NBC News on Monday it was a mistake for him to urge supporters to put Republican rival Donald Trump in the “bullseye,” but the Democrat said he does not use inflammatory language while Trump does.
On July 8, Biden spoke to some of his biggest donors and said they needed to shift the election campaign’s focus from him to former President Trump, the Republican nominee in the Nov. 5 election. “I have one job and that’s to beat Donald Trump … We’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” he said.
Some Republicans zeroed in on that language as they blamed Biden for creating a climate that sparked the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Biden has repeatedly decried political violence.
“It was a mistake to use the word,” Biden said in an interview with NBC. “I meant focus on it, focus on what he’s doing,” he said.
Biden has so far faced down calls from within his own party to step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate after his poor performance against Trump in a debate last month. Biden has sought to turn attention to his opponent, highlighting his mistruths and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“I’m not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one. I’m not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election,” Biden said.
He said Trump had engaged in such rhetoric, however, citing Trump’s comments about a bloodbath ensuing if he loses the election and making fun when former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul was attacked by an intruder with a hammer at their home.
Biden, who is seeking to prove that he is fit to stand for reelection and govern for a second four-year term despite concerns about his age, noted that millions of people had voted for him to be the Democratic Party’s nominee. “I listen to them,” he said.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Eric Beech and Heather Timmons; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Cynthia Osterman)
