WASHINGTON (AP) ā President Joe Biden told NBC News in an interview airing Monday that it was a āmistakeā to say he wanted to put a ābull's-eyeā on Republican nominee Donald Trump, but argued that the rhetoric coming from his opponent was more incendiary while warning that Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.
Those remarks from Biden came during a private call with donors last week as the Democrat had been scrambling to shore up his imperiled candidacy with key party constituencies. During that conversation, Biden declared that he was ādoneā talking about his poor debate performance and that it was ātime to put Trump in the bull's-eye,ā saying Trump has gotten far too little scrutiny on his stances, rhetoric and lack of campaigning.
Insisting āthere was very little focus on Trump's agenda,ā Biden told NBC anchor Lester Holt that while he acknowledged his āmistake,ā he nonetheless is ānot the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day oneā and that he wanted the focus to be on what Trump was saying. It's Trump, not Biden, who engages in that kind of rhetoric, Biden said, referring to Trumpās past comments about a ābloodbathā if the Republican loses to Biden in November.
āLook, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?" Biden said. "Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?ā
The interview was occurring the same day that his reelection team was preparing to resume full-throttle campaigning after the particularly after the GOP nominee announced Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate ā which unleashed a flurry of criticism from the Biden campaign and other Democrats about the young freshman senator's policy positions.
āHeās a clone of Trump on the issues,ā Biden told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base shortly before departing for Nevada for a series of speeches and campaign events. āI donāt see any difference.ā
The NBC interview, scheduled before the attempt on Trumpās life at a rally in Pennsylvania, had been part of Bidenās broader strategy to prove his fitness for office after angst grew among Democrats because of his disastrous June 27 debate performance.
The Biden campaign recalibrated some of its political plans in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Saturday, pulling advertising off the air and hitting pause on messaging. The White House also scrapped Bidenās planned Monday visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson library, where he had been slated to deliver remarks on civil rights.
Itās still not finalized when Bidenās campaign ads will resume airing. But Biden is pressing on with the Nevada portion of his previously scheduled western swing, which will include remarks to the NAACP and UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group. Heāll also headline whatās been billed as a ācampaign community eventā on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Hours ahead of the NBC interview, his campaign issued a blistering statement on Trump's selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, saying he picked the freshman senator because he would ābend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda.ā
āOver the next three and a half months, we will spend every single day making the case between the two starkly contrasting visions Americans will choose between at the ballot box this November," said Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O'Malley Dillon. "The Biden-Harris ticket whoās focused on uniting the country, creating opportunity for everyone, and lowering costs; or Trump-Vance ā whose harmful agenda will take away Americansā rights, hurt the middle class, and make life more expensive ā all while benefiting the ultra-rich and greedy corporations.ā
Biden has acknowledged that his candidacy and agenda will be under attack at the this week, and aides feel no need to put their campaign on complete pause while Biden comes under scrutiny in Milwaukee. But they'll tread carefully in the aftermath of the shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
āIāll be traveling this week, making the case for our record and the vision ā my vision of the country ā our vision,ā Biden said during his on Sunday night, just the third such address of his presidency. āIāll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box, no violence on our streets. Thatās how democracy should work.ā
Bidenās renewed campaigning this week comes as Democrats have been at an impasse over whether the incumbent president should continue in the race even as he was defiant that he would stay in. Biden has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he remains in the race, and aides have been operating as such.
It was unclear if the attempt on Trumpās life would blunt Democratic efforts to urge Biden to step aside, but it appears to have stalled some of the momentum, for now. No Democrats have called for him to exit the race since the shooting Saturday night.
In the hours before the shooting, Biden was still being confronted by frustration and skepticism from Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Jared Huffman of California said he asked the president during his meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus about objectively assessing the trajectory of the race, and if the Lord almighty doesnāt intervene would Biden consider āthe best earthly alternativeā: meeting with former presidents Obama and Clinton, and the Democratic leadership including Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi āto seek their advice.ā
Huffman said on a social media post that Biden ādisagreed with the notion that we are on a losing trajectory.ā
And while Biden expressed a āwillingness to listenā to other voices, Huffman said he doubted any would be persuasive. āI continue to believe a major course correction is needed, and that the President and his team have yet to fully acknowledge the problem, much less correct it,ā he said.
But now, several Democrats who requested anonymity were skeptical that there would be enough drive among lawmakers to successfully try and pressure Biden not to run, especially because they are scattered and away from Washington until next week and because Biden has said he wonāt step aside and seized the opportunity to quickly respond to the shooting over the weekend. The people requested anonymity to characterize private conversations.
Many in the Democratic Party had been looking to congressional leaders Jeffries and Schumer to voice concerns directly to the president. Jeffries met with Biden at the White House on Thursday night, while Schumer went to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday for his visit with Biden, which occurred just before the assassination attempt on Trump.
There were still deep concerns that Biden is not up to the job and a sense that pressure to try and find another candidate could ramp up again when lawmakers return to Washington. Congressional Democrats were watching the Republican National Convention and Bidenās appearances this week with awareness that the dynamics could change ā again.
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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Seung Min Kim, Aamer Madhani And Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press
