Biden admits 'bullseye' comment about Trump was a mistake

Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden sat for an interview with NBC on Monday, his first interview since the attempted assassination of his political rival former President Donald Trump.

Speaking with Lester Holt, Biden reiterated that he was grateful Trump survived the shooting, but also pointed toward his opponent’s role in raising the temperature of contemporary American political rhetoric.

He also offered his thoughts on Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate and continued to downplay concerns about his own performance at the CNN debate last month, emphasizing that he was not going to get out of the race.

Here are some takeaways from the interview:

Biden says he’s grateful that Trump’s OK – but points to Trump’s rhetoric as driving the temperature higher

While taking care to express how grateful he is that Trump was not seriously wounded in the shooting, Biden also blamed him for intensifying political rhetoric across the United States.

He in particular pointed – as he often does – toward his comments after the rally of White supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, and his denial of the results of the 2020 election that led to the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol.

“Look. There’s so much violence now. … There’s no place at all for violence in politics in America. None. Zero. And we’ve reached the point where it’s become too commonplace,” Biden said. “Not assassinations, but to talk about, for example, January 6, the attack on the Capitol.”

He mentioned he only ran in 2020 because of Trump’s comments after Charlottesville.

“The then-president was asked, what did he think, and he said, ‘Very fine people on both sides.’ Not fine people on both sides,” Biden added. “No excuse. Zero.”

Later he said, “I am not engaged in that rhetoric. Now my opponent is engaged in that rhetoric: He talks about it’ll be a bloodbath if he loses, talking about how he’s going to forgive all the actions, I guess suspend the sentences of all those who were arrested and sentenced to go to jail because of what happened in the Capitol. I’m not out there making fun of like when remember the picture of Donald Trump when Nancy Pelosi’s husband was hit with a hammer going – talking – joking about it?”

Biden declines to speculate on how Trump shooting will affect election

Biden offered more details on the conversation he had with Trump in the hours after the shooting that left the former president injured. The president characterized the call as “very cordial.”

“I told him how concerned I was and wanted to make sure I knew how he was actually doing,” Biden told Holt.

Trump “sounded good” on the call, Biden added. “He said he was fine. And he thanked me for calling him. I told him he was literally in the prayers of Jill and me and his whole family was weathering this.”

The president declined to say how he felt the shooting will affect the trajectory of the 2024 presidential race.

“I don’t know, and you don’t know, either,” he told Holt.

But the president added he was focused Trump’s health and safety.

“I’ve thought less about the trajectory of the case than two things: One, what his health is, that he’s secure, number one. And number two, what happens from here on in terms of the kind of coverage that the president and vice president and former president and new vice president get,” the president said.

President defends his rhetoric, but concedes bullseye comment was a mistake

Biden defended himself against criticisms over his rhetoric, which has been put in the spotlight in the aftermath of the assassination attempt but said it was a mistake to say it was “time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

Biden made those comments during a call with donors on July 8, during which he said, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” according to a summary of the call provided by his campaign.

“It was a mistake to use the word,” Biden said.

“I meant focus on him. Focus on what he’s doing. Focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told at the debate,” he said.

Biden sought to turn the conversation back to Trump’s own words: “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. I’m not the guy who said he won’t accept the outcome of this election automatically. You can’t only love your country when you win. And so the focus was on what he’s saying.”

The comments come a day after Biden used a rare Oval Office address to urge Americans to cool the political rhetoric on both sides of the aisle. The White House and campaign have followed suit.

Still, Biden’s past language under the microscope. Pressed by Holt on whether he has used inciting language, Biden suggested that it was necessary to characterize Trump as a “threat to democracy.”

“How do you talk about the threat to democracy – which is real – when a president says things like he says? Do you just not say anything – because it may incite somebody?” he questioned.

Biden says he feels safe with the Secret Service after Trump assassination attempt

Biden said he still feels safe under Secret Service protection in the aftermath of the shooting that wounded Trump and that the agency continued to have his “full confidence.”

He said it was an “open question” whether the agency should have anticipated the shooting.

“I feel safe with the Secret Service,” Biden said.

“What we did see was the Secret Service who responded risked their lives, who responded. They were ready to give their lives to the president. The question is should they have anticipated what happened? Should they have done what they needed to do to prevent this from happening? That’s a question – that’s an open question.”

The president also pointed to local law enforcement’s role in helping protect the former president on Saturday. The efforts of local agencies have come under scrutiny after it was revealed a local police officer saw the suspect before the shooting began.

“There’s a major piece of this relates to domestic, local law enforcement. They play a large role. … I’m not saying they weren’t competent, either. I’m just saying it’s a complicated process,” Biden said.

JD Vance is no surprise as Trump’s VP pick, Biden says

Biden’s interview took place soon after Trump announced Vance as his running mate at the Republican National Convention. Biden suggested he wasn’t surprised by Trump’s choice.

“It’s not unusual, he’s going to surround himself with people who agree completely with him,” Biden said.

But he also took the chance to point out the staunchly anti-Trump views Vance held before he became a senator: “Even though, if you go back and listen to some of the things JD Vance said about Trump. …” Biden said, laughing as he trailed off. (Vance once called Trump “a moral disaster” and suggested he could be “America’s Hitler.”)

Vice President Kamala Harris reached out to Vance on Monday. The Biden-Harris campaign said the vice president is prepared to debate Vance.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s MJ Lee and Sam Fossum contributed to this report

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