Biden defends his rhetoric but concedes it was a mistake to make bullseye comment about Trump

Washington CNN —

President Joe Biden defended himself against criticisms over his rhetoric, which has been put in the spotlight in the aftermath of the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump – but said it was a mistake to say it was “time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

Biden made those comments during a call with donors on July 8, during which he said, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” according to a summary of the call provided by his campaign.

“It was a mistake to use the word,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt on Monday.

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

Biden sought to turn the conversation back to Trump’s own words: “I’m not the guy that said, ‘I want to be a dictator on day one.’ I’m not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I’m not the guy who said 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.”

The comments come a day after Biden used a rare Oval Office address to urge Americans to cool the political rhetoric on both sides of the aisle.

“The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that,” he said on Sunday night.

The White House and campaign have followed suit.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was repeatedly pressed Monday on recent comments from Biden prior to Saturday’s events, including saying in Detroit Friday that Trump would be president “over my dead body” and that “another four years of Donald Trump is deadly serious.” She did not