Biden says 'time to put Trump in the bulls-eye' remark was a mistake, doubles down on reelection bid

• President Biden said he should not have used the language, "put Trump in the bulls-eye," a remark he made to donors in a private call days before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
• Several Republican lawmakers have blamed Democratic campaign rhetoric for inciting the shooting, including Biden's ill-timed "bulls-eye" comment.
• Biden said that he has never intended to incite political violence, what he sees as a contrast to Trump.

President Joe Biden said he should not have used the language, "put Trump in the bulls-eye," a remark he made to donors in a private call days before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

"It was a mistake to use the word," Biden said, according to excerpts of a Monday interview with NBC News' Lester Holt. "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."

"How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?" Biden asked rhetorically. "Do you just not say anything, because it may incite somebody?"

"Look, I have not engaged in that rhetoric," Biden said. "Now, my opponent has engaged in that rhetoric. He talks about being a bloodbath if he loses."

On Saturday, several shots were fired at Trump's Pennsylvania rally, killing one attendee in the crowd and critically injuring two others. The former president's ear was bloodied before Secret Service covered him and rushed him off stage. The alleged gunman, 20-year old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed several moments after shots were fired.

Questions and conspiracy theories soon poured out across social media as the public processed the horrific events of Saturday evening.

Several