Less than a day after Joe Biden called on Americans to “lower the temperature,” he denied his own dangerous and divisive rhetoric in an interview with Lester Holt on NBC News.
“You called your opponent an existential threat,” Holt pointed out. "On a call a week ago you said it's time to put Trump in the bullseye. There's some dispute about the context, but I think you appreciate that we’re—"
“I didn’t say crosshairs,” Biden retorted. “I said bull's eye. 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. Focus on — I mean there is a whole range of things that, look, I am not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one, I am not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I am not the guy who said that 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, and I mean the idea.”
NBC: You called President Trump "an existential threat" and said it's time to put him "in the bullseye."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 15, 2024
BIDEN: "I didn't say 'crosshairs.'" pic.twitter.com/RKeKVxULJ9
Sorry, Joe, but you’ve already lost the argument when you’re trying to differentiate “bull's-eye” from “crosshairs.” Just stop wasting your time.
And, Holt, to his credit, didn’t seem to accept Biden’s argument, and pressed him on the issue of his rhetoric.
Asked whether he has done “some soul searching” since the assassination attempt about any rhetoric that might unintentionally incite someone to violence, Biden said the threat from his opponent is too stark to ignore.
“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when the president says things like he says? Do you just not say something because it may incite somebody?” Biden asked rhetorically.
“I have not engaged in that rhetoric," Biden continued. "My opponent has engaged in that rhetoric.”
It's a different tone than the one he struck Sunday evening in an Oval Office address, when he called on all Americans to "lower the temperature" of political rhetoric and to work together to stop viewing political opponents as enemies
He hasn’t engaged in that rhetoric? Seriously? What do you call this?:
Joe Biden on 7/12/24: "Most importantly—and I mean this from the bottom of my heart—Trump is a threat to this nation."
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) July 15, 2024
A day later, Trump was shot. pic.twitter.com/Ss4zNq0GDr
That was the day before Trump was shot.
It seems like Joe Biden has put himself in front of the cameras more times in the days since Trump was nearly killed than he has during the entire campaign in order to try to position himself as the guy who wants to cool things down and unify, when, in reality, his rhetoric, and the rhetoric of his party for years, has radicalized their supporters and brought their hatred of Trump and Republicans to dangerous levels.
Related: Joe Biden Owes America (And Donald Trump) an Apology
And then, when Holt asked Biden what he would do personally to “lower the temperature in this country,” the president gave a meaningless rambling response.
QUESTION: What will you do to lower the temperature in this country?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 16, 2024
BIDEN: *incomprehensible rant* pic.twitter.com/FbZDkXEl6U
The real answer is that Biden has no intention of lowering the temperature because he refuses to even admit that he and his party are part of the problem.
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