President Biden said on Monday it was “a mistake” to say that he wanted to put former President Donald J. Trump back in “a bull’s eye” but defended his descriptions of his rival in the 2024 election as a threat to the foundations of the nation’s democracy.
“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Mr. Biden asked NBC’s Lester Holt, according to an excerpt from an interview released by the network Monday afternoon.
“Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?” he asked.
The president’s comments come just two days after a would-be assassin shot at Mr. Trump at a rally in western Pennsylvania, grazing the former president’s ear and killing one of his supporters.
Republicans have accused Mr. Biden of stoking violence against Mr. Trump, pointing to a comment that the president made last week to donors. He told them that “we’re done talking about the debate; it’s time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye.”
Mr. Biden told Mr. Holt that “it was a mistake to use the word.” He added: “I didn’t, I didn’t say cross hairs. I meant bull’s-eye. I meant focus on it. Focus on what he’s doing.”
He added that Mr. Trump has used incendiary rhetoric for years, citing the former president’s statement that he intends to be a “dictator on Day 1” and his comments in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which he encouraged people to head to the Capitol.
Asked by Mr. Holt whether he had done any soul searching himself, Mr. Biden said he had not.
“Look, I’m not engaged in that rhetoric,” he insisted. “Now, my opponent is engaged in that rhetoric. He talks about there’ll be a blood bath if he loses, talking about how he’s going to forgive, although, actually, I guess suspend the sentences of all those who were arrested and sentenced to go to jail because of what happened in the Capitol.”
Also Monday, an interview that Mr. Biden gave to Chris “Speedy” Morman, a Black YouTuber who has a large following of young viewers, was released. The interview was recorded a day before the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump.
In it, Mr. Biden said he is “1,000 percent” going to stay in the 2024 presidential race and accused Mr. Trump of doing nothing for people in minority groups during the four years he was in the White House.
“What has he done when he was president? Tell me,” Mr. Biden said. “What has he done to help young people in America? What has he done to deal with racism? What has he done to deal with the fact that you had, the way in which African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans are treated. I mean, what has he done?”
The interview with Mr. Morman is part of a concerted effort by the Biden campaign to expand the president’s outreach directly with Black voters and other minority groups. Since the debate last month, Mr. Biden has sat for several interviews with Black radio hosts in the hopes of boosting turnout and support in one of his most important constituencies.
In the interview, the president defended his support for Israel, calling himself a Zionist.
“If there weren’t an Israel,” the president said, “every Jew in the world would be at risk; every Jew in the world would be at risk.” He added, “And so there’s a need for it to be strong.”
But Mr. Biden also claimed to be “the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody,” citing his efforts to open routes for humanitarian aid through Egypt. He also noted that he had recently denied Israel the use of 2,000-pound bombs that have contributed to mass casualties in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Biden did not make any major gaffes during the 18-minute interview. But his voice was soft and raspy, and he sometimes meandered through answers or stopped himself from completing a thought.
After starting to explain his reasons for a crackdown on unauthorized immigration, he noted that he had recently moved to ease burdens on some immigrants who have long settled in the United States.
“We have 10,000 people, women or men, married to an American citizen after 10 years and still can’t get a green card — I changed that,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons and we — anyway, I could go on.”
In the middle of an answer about Mr. Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, Mr. Biden said: “Police were killed. People were wounded. People were hurt. Place was smashed up or, hanging — anyway.”
But he did have a concise answer when Mr. Morman asked if there was one thing Mr. Trump would do well if he gets elected to a second term.
“I’m not being facetious,” the president said. “I can’t think of a single thing.”
The post Biden Says It Was a Mistake to Say He Wanted to Put Trump in a ‘Bullseye’ appeared first on New York Times.
