President Joe Biden says it was a ’mistake’ to say he wanted to put a ’bull’s-eye’ on Donald Trump

President Biden addresses rhetoric, campaign strategy, and Democratic concerns in NBC interview following Trump assassination attempt.

President Joe Biden told NBC News in an interview on July 15 that it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “bull's-eye” on Republican nominee Donald Trump, but argued that the rhetoric from his opponent was more incendiary while warning that Mr. Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.

Those remarks from Mr. Biden came during a private call with donors last week as the Democrat had been scrambling to shore up his imperilled candidacy with key party constituencies. During that conversation, Mr. Biden declared that he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and that it was “time to put Mr. Trump in the bull's-eye,” saying Mr. Trump has gotten far too little scrutiny on his stances, rhetoric and lack of campaigning.

The NBC interview came as Mr. Biden and his reelection team prepared to resume full-throttle campaigning after a brief pause following the weekend assassination attempt on Mr. Trump. The President and his campaign let loose a flurry of criticism after the GOP nominee announced freshman Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate.

“He’s a clone of Mr. Trump on the issues,” Mr. Biden told reporters as he headed to Nevada for a series of speeches and campaign events. “I don’t see any difference.”

Once Mr. Vance was tapped as Mr. Trump’s vice-presidential pick, the Biden campaign hit send on a fundraising solicitation signed by the President, and his team issued a blistering statement, saying he picked the freshman senator because he would “bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda.” For her part, Vice President Kamala Harris phoned Mr. Vance to congratulate him and left him a voicemail message, according to a person familiar with the matter.

And to NBC anchor Lester Holt, Mr. Biden made it clear that he would keep up his focus on Trump. While he acknowledged his “mistake,” Biden nonetheless said he is “not the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day one” and that he wanted the focus to be on what Mr. Trump was saying. It's Mr. Trump, not Mr. Biden, who engages in that kind of rhetoric, Mr. Biden said, referring to Trump’s past comments about a “bloodbath” if the Republican loses to Mr. Biden in November.

“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a President says things like he says?" Mr. Biden said. "Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?”