Biden says ‘bullseye’ comment on Trump was a ‘mistake’

US President Joe Biden walks out of the Oval Office towards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 15, 2024. Biden is travelling to Las Vegas. (AFP)

WASHINGTON –  US President Joe Biden on Monday said he was wrong to call for Donald Trump to be put in the “bullseye” in the race for the White House.

“It was a mistake to use the word,” Biden told NBC when asked if he had gone too far with his rhetoric against the newly confirmed Republican nominee, who survived an attempted assassination Saturday at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

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

The assassination attempt, in which Trump was grazed in one ear, shocked a nation already deeply polarized ahead of the November election.

Several prominent Republicans have since accused Biden of having responsibility for the assassination attempt because of his language against Trump.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” said J.D. Vance, who was announced on Monday as Trump’s running mate for the 2024 ticket.

“That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination,” wrote Vance on social media. 

Biden had made the initial comments in a call to Democratic donors early last week.

“It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” the president said, in a call that was intended to galvanize supporters amid growing dissent over Biden’s continued candidacy.

Those divisions emerged from Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month, in which the president slurred his words, spoke incoherently at times and stood with mouth agape while Trump talked.

Biden’s interview with NBC on Monday was the latest post-debate attempt by the White House to assuage growing fears over the 81-year-old president’s age and mental state.

Speaking without the aid of a teleprompter, Biden told NBC’s Lester Holt that his mental sharpness was “pretty damn good.”

“I’m old,” Biden told the US broadcaster, according to a transcript.

“But I’m only three years older than Trump, number one. And number two, my mental acuity has been pretty damn good.”

He added: “I understand why people say, ‘God, he’s 81 years old. Whoa. What’s he gonna be when he’s 83 years old, 84 years?’ It’s a legitimate question to ask.”

While accepting his language against Trump had been a “mistake,” Biden said it was right to maintain focus on the threat posed by another Trump presidency.

“Look, I’m not the guy that said ‘I want to be a dictator on day one,'” he said, referring to remarks by Trump that alarmed many people.