Washington: At a time when American politics has been thrown in disarray following the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Democrat President Joe Biden admitted that he "made a mistake" when he told supporters to put Trump in a "bullseye" but defended his remarks by saying that his rival's rhetoric was more inflammatory.
During a private call with donors last week, Biden said he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and said it was “time to put Trump in the bullseye", a remark that has been criticised by Republican supporters, including newly-announced Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, after the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally targeting Trump that shook the country and reignited debate about America's polarised political atmosphere.
"It was a mistake to use the word," Biden said in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, referring to the "bullseye" comment. "I meant focus on it, focus on what he's doing ... Focus on the number of lies he told in the debate." Biden also defended questions over his fitness for office following his poor debate performance against Trump on June 27.
The 81-year-old President attempted to put the spotlight back on Trump's incendiary rhetoric and criminal convictions, saying he is “not the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day one” and he wanted the focus to be on what Trump was saying. He also referred to Trump's past comments about a "bloodbath" in November if the Republican loses.
Biden asks people to 'lower the temperature'
In an address to the nation following the targeted attempt on Trump, Biden said the nation needed to "lower the temperature in our politics" and criticised the attack, fearing the direction of the country's political clashes. "We cannot, we must not, go down this road in America," he said. "There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence, ever. Period."
Speaking to Lester Holt on his capabilities to serve in the office, Biden said 14 million Democratic voters selected him through the primaries and grew visibly frustrated when asked about participating in another debate against Trump, even before their next scheduled one in September. “I'm on the horse. Where have you been?” he said.
As for a potential repeat of his rocky debate, Biden asserted that he did not plan "on having another performance on that level.” The president reiterated in the interview that he is not leaving the presidential race, while acknowledging that people's questions about his age were legitimate. Nearly two dozen Democrats have now called on Biden, 81, to drop out of the race and allow for another standard bearer to take his place.
Why is Biden under scrutiny?
The president has endured more than two weeks of questions about his political future, so far facing down calls to step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate after the debate sparked a crisis within his party. Trump repeated well-worn falsehoods during the debate, including that he won the last election.
The president has sought to turn attention to his opponent, highlighting Trump's falsehoods, his refusal to accept the 2020 election results and his role in the January 6, 2021, attack. It was unclear if the attempt on Trump's life would blunt Democratic efforts to urge Biden to step aside, but it appears to have stalled some of the momentum, for now
However, several Democrats were sceptical that there would be enough drive among lawmakers to successfully try to pressure Biden not to run, especially because they are scattered and away from Washington until next week and because Biden has said he won't step aside and seized the opportunity to quickly respond to the shooting over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris phoned JD Vance to congratulate him on becoming Trump's vice presidential running mate and left him a voicemail message, according to a person familiar with the matter. Asked by Holt what Vance's selection said about Trump's values, Biden replied: "He's going to surround himself with people who agree completely with him."
(with inputs from agencies)
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