President Joe Biden called for a de-escalation of political rhetoric but did not back down from his criticism of former President Donald Trump on Monday, Biden’s first interview since the attempted assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday.
In an interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, Biden said he called the injured Trump on Saturday to convey his well-wishes.
But he argued in his interview with Holt that Trump, whom Republicans formally nominated as their presidential candidate at their convention on Monday, remains a threat to American democracy, regularly using aggressive rhetoric and leading an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Biden said it was a mistake to exploit the term “bull’s eye” during a call with Democratic donors last week, when he told them to focus on the Republican candidate rather than the consequences of Biden’s impoverished debate performance.
Many officials and fundraisers wondered after the debate whether Biden should drop out of the re-election campaign.
“I meant focus on him,” Biden said of Trump. “Focus on what he’s doing. Focus on his policies.”
The former president survived a shooting Saturday that killed one person and injured two others at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter died at the scene.
Biden said he did not intentionally exploit aggressive rhetoric, but did not apologize or back down from his criticism of Trump, calling him a “threat to democracy.”
“How do you talk about the threat to democracy that is real when the president says the things he says?” Biden said.
“I am not engaged in that rhetoric,” Biden said. “My opponent is engaged in that rhetoric, saying if he loses, there will be a bloodbath.”
He also noted that Trump had announced that he would commute the sentences of those convicted in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and mocked the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was attacked by a man with a hammer during a home invasion.
“It doesn’t look like you’re turning down the temperature,” Holt said.
Biden responded by saying that some of the ideas Trump has championed — continuing to challenge the 2020 election results despite losing dozens of court cases, demanding loyalty oaths from Republicans, calling political opponents “vermin” and saying he would become a dictator on the first day of his second term — are antithetical to democracy.
Biden focused in particular on the Jan. 6 attack, when a mob of Trump supporters tried to stop Congress and Vice President Mike Pence from recognizing Biden’s victory over then-President Trump in the 2020 election.
“When you say there’s nothing wrong with going to the Capitol, breaking in, threatening people, killing a couple of police officers, putting a noose and hanging the former vice president, and then you say you’re going to forgive people for that? You’re going to pardon them?” Biden said.
“Violence is never appropriate,” he said. “Never, never, never, never, never in politics.”
He promised to “continue talking about the issues” and criticized Holt and other media outlets for what he said was a lack of focus on real policy issues.
“Sometimes come and talk to me about what we should be talking about, OK? About the issues,” Biden said at the end of the about 20-minute interview.
Charges for secret documents
Holt asked Biden about Monday’s news that Judge Aileen Cannon, a federal judge in South Florida, dismissed the charges against Trump, in a case accusing him of improperly keeping secret documents from his presidency.
Biden said he believes the decision by a federal judge appointed by Trump was wrong.
“I’m not surprised,” Biden said. “But my overall argument is that … the basis on which the case was dismissed, I think, makes no sense.”
The effects of the debate
Asked by Holt if he had “weathered the storm” Democratic discontent above his debate on June 27 After a performance that shook confidence in his candidacy, Biden said he was staying in the race, citing victories in primaries and party conventions that did not pose a sedate threat to his reelection.
“Look, 14 million people voted for me to be the Democratic nominee, OK?” Biden said. “I’m listening.”
Biden again acknowledged he “had a terrible night” during the debate but told Holt that news reports should have paid more attention to Trump’s speech.
“I screwed up,” Biden said. “Why didn’t the press cover all the lies he told?”
Asked about comments from senior members of his party in Congress, including Pelosi and former No. 3 House Democrat Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, that appear to leave open the possibility that he would step down, Biden said he was prepared to campaign on his robust record.
The race remains close even after a frail debate, Biden said. He added that he has had one of the most successful presidencies since Franklin Roosevelt nearly 100 years ago.
“I’ve done more than any president in a long, long time, in three and a half years, so I’m ready to be judged on that.”
Biden, 81, said he understood concerns about his age and called the question, which asked him how he would fare over the next four years, “legitimate.”
But when Holt asked if Biden was motivated to “get back on the horse” and debate Trump again “in the next few weeks,” Biden deflected by noting that his schedule has been packed since the debate.
“I’m riding a horse,” he told the reporter. “Where were you?”
Vance’s Choice
Trump election of U.S. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio As his vice presidential nominee has shown, he will surround himself with “people who completely agree with him,” Biden said.
Holt noted that Vance had made comments about Biden, but the president urged Holt to investigate Vance’s comments about Trump. In 2016, as a private citizen with a fairly public profile as a businessman and memoirist, Vance made comments some harsh comments about Trump.
Biden expressed some disappointment that Holt didn’t seem interested in the story.
“He said some things about me, but look what he said about Trump,” Biden said. “What about you? Come on, man.”
The president said Vance supported Republican positions on significantly restricting abortion, cutting taxes for high-income earners and denying climate change.
