Biden Pushes Back on Idea That He Should Take It Easy on Trump
In Joe Biden’s first sit-down interview since the assassination attempt against Republican opponent Donald Trump, and as questions about his fitness for office continue to swirl, the president responded to Saturday’s shooting, the state of the presidential race, and insisted once again that he has no intention of stepping aside.
Biden said he made a “mistake” when he told supporters it was “time to put Trump in the bullseye,” but pushed back when NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt suggested Biden should do some “soul searching” about the rhetoric he uses. “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 might incite somebody?”
“My opponent has engaged in that rhetoric. Talks about there’d be a bloodbath if he loses,” Biden continued.
The interview aired as the Republican National Convention was wrapping up its first night in Milwaukee, and just two days after Trump was injured in an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The president was set to tape the interview in Texas, but due to the assassination attempt, the interview was filmed from the White House.
Trump, who has called for “unity” in the wake of the shooting, is currently in Milwaukee for the RNC. Trump’s allies are claiming divine intervention led to the “miracle” that spared Trump from death, while accusing Biden of inciting the assassination attempt by criticizing Trump. (The FBI has been unable to ascertain the shooter’s motive.)
On Sunday, Biden condemned political violence in an Oval Office address, urging Americans to unite and listen to those with different views. “Politics must never be a literal battlefield or, God forbid, a killing field,” he said. The Biden campaign pulled TV ads and suspended a $50 million marketing campaign following the shooting, in line with his calls on Sunday to “lower the temperature in our politics.”
When asked by Holt if the shooting had any effect on the outcome of the election, Biden fired back and said, “I don’t know. And you don’t know either.”
Despite dodging questions of his own mental health, Biden turned the interview to Trump and his well-being following the shooting. “I’ve thought less about the trajectory of the case than two things. One: what his health is, that that was secure,” Biden said. And two, “what happens from here on in terms of the kind of coverage that the president” will receive.
The Trump rally shooting on Saturday upended a seemingly endless news cycle about Biden’s age and health, which began with a disastrous performance in his first 2024 presidential debate with Trump. At the debate, Biden made several blunders — including saying he had “finally beat Medicare.” He struggled to complete his thoughts at times, sounded hoarse, and failed to make a compelling case against Trump. The next debate is scheduled for September 10.
The president admitted to Holt that he “had a bad, bad night” at the debate, but he had not yet watched it in its entirety. When Holt said Biden looked “confused,” Biden asked why there wasn’t a greater emphasis paid to Trump’s performance. “Twenty-eight times, it’s confirmed, he lied in that debate.” Biden vowed, “I don’t plan on having another performance on that level,” come September.
Biden said “The job’s not finished” when asked about the ongoing calls from inside the Democratic Party calling for him to step down, which has finally quieted in the days following the Trump shooting. “Look, 14 million people voted for me to be the nominee in the Democratic Party, OK? I listen to them.”
The race took on a new dimension earlier on Monday when Trump announced Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate. “He’s gonna surround himself with people who agree completely with him, have a voting record, that support him,” Biden said. “Even though if you go back and look at some of the things that J.D. Vance said about Trump.”
Vance, who is 39, is half Trump’s age, 78, and could be the third-youngest vice president in history should Trump beat Biden, 81, in November. Vance previously called Trump “America’s Hitler” before changing tune and becoming one of Trump’s most ardent allies.
Biden addressed the age difference during his chat with Holt. “The idea that I’m the old guy, I am. I’m old. But I’m only three years older than Trump, number one. And number two, my mental acuity’s been pretty damn good. I’ve gotten more done than any president has in a long, long time in three and a half years.”
The Democratic ticket would become decades more youthful if Biden were to cede his place atop it to his own vice president, Kamala Harris, who is 59. Biden has no intention of doing that, though, as he’s insisted ever since Democrats starts calling for him to bow out. When Holt asked him if he is comfortable in his decision to stay in the race and if anything has changed in the last few days, Biden said simply and emphatically: “No.”