President Joe Biden criticized former President Trump's rhetoric and the media in an interview with NBC.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
President Joe Biden said there's no place for violence in American politics and criticized the media in a roughly 20-minute interview that aired on NBC on Monday night.
Biden sat down with NBC News's Lester Holt at the White House earlier on Monday, two days after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt.
Biden, who is still trying to recover from a disastrous debate performance last month, was soft-spoken and at times appeared unable to finish articulating his thoughts, resulting in some rambling answers. He reiterated that he's staying in the race despite calls from some Democrats to step down.
During the interview, Biden described his conversation with Trump following the rally shooting on Saturday as "very cordial" and said that the former president thanked him for calling.
"There's no place at all for violence in politics in America. None. Zero," he said.
Holt said the shooting had sparked conversations about the rhetoric used in American politics, noting Biden had recently called Trump an "existential threat" and said that it was time to put Trump in the "bull's-eye."
Biden responded that he "didn't say crosshairs" and that what he was trying to say was "there was very little focus on Trump's agenda."
Holt then pointed out the word was "bull's-eye," not "crosshairs."
"It was, it was a mistake to use the word," Biden said. "I didn't mean — I didn't say cross-hairs. I meant bull's-eye, I meant focus on him. Focus on what he's doing."
When Holt pressed Biden on whether he'd done any soul-searching since the debate about the rhetoric he uses, the president pointed at Trump's rhetoric and his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.
"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?" Biden said.
"Look, I am not engaged in that rhetoric," he continued. "Now, my opponent's engaged in that rhetoric."
Biden then cited comments Trump made about pardoning January 6, 2021, rioters and that it would be a "bloodbath" for US auto industry jobs if he lost the election. He also noted the jokes Trump made after Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked.
At several points in the interview, Biden expressed frustration with how the media has covered Trump.
When Holt pressed Biden on his debate performance, the president asked why there wasn't more coverage of lies told by Trump during the debate.
"Where are you on this? Why didn't the press ever talk about that? 28 times, it's confirmed, he lied in that debate," Biden said.
Fact-checkers from many outlets reported on false claims made during the debate, with CNN saying Trump made over 30 while Biden made at least nine.
At the end of the interview, Biden asked Holt to come and talk to him sometime about "what we should be talking about."
"The issues," he said.
Another interview with Complex, which took place on Friday — before the attempted assassination of Trump — was published on Monday. Similarly, in that interview, Biden was soft-spoken and misspoke at times.
Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Biden's opponent was formally nominated as the GOP candidate for president. Earlier Monday, Trump announced that he had chosen Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice presidential running mate. Vance gave his first interview as a vice presidential candidate Monday night.
Campaigns for Biden and Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
