2024-07-16 10:16:18
On Vice Presidential candidate Vance: “He’s a Trump clone on policy.”
Sunbon resumes advertising and campaigning that was suspended immediately after Trump’s attack
U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview with NBC News on the 15th (local time) that his remarks about former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, that he wanted to “put him in the center of the target” were a “mistake.”
But Trump’s comments at the time were far more inflammatory and radical, he said, adding that he still warned that the country’s democratic institutions were a threat.
Biden’s controversial remarks came during a private phone call with Biden’s campaign donors last week, at a time when Democrats were reeling from controversy over Biden’s candidacy.
During the conversation, President Biden declared that he was done talking about his defeat in the TV debate, saying, “Now is the time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye.”
He then criticized Trump’s speeches and rhetoric during the campaign, saying that he speaks too carelessly and without considering his own position.
As the remarks were circulated after the shooting, public opinion began to spread as if the Biden camp was behind Trump’s assassination, and the Biden campaign took steps to block the spread and explain.
The NBC interview comes as Biden’s campaign resumes its momentum after a brief hiatus following Trump’s near-death assassination attempt last weekend.
President Biden and his campaign have continued to peddle critical views of Trump even after the candidate announced political novice Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate.
“Vance is a complete clone of Trump on a number of issues. I can’t see any differences,” Biden told reporters as he left for a Nevada rally and other campaign events.
After Trump nominated Vance as his vice presidential candidate, the Biden campaign began sending out new campaign fundraising letters, with aides criticizing him as someone who would physically block Trump and his extreme MAGA (Make America Great Again) propaganda.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris left a congratulatory voice message for Vance by phone, a person familiar with the matter told the AP.
Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC, President Biden told anchor Lester Holt that he would continue to focus on Trump, but admitted that his comments about Trump were “wrong.”
But he pointed out that Trump’s remark that “I want to be a dictator from day one” is not his specialty and that kind of caustic and aggressive speech is something Trump is good at.
He then cited Trump’s remark that if he lost the November election, “there would be a bloodbath.”
“Can you really say that when the president speaks in that way, it’s not actually a threat to democracy?” Biden asked.
Biden’s NBC interview was scheduled before Trump’s assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. It was also intended to make up for concerns within the Democratic Party about Biden’s advanced age following a gaffe in the June 27 debate with Trump.
However, immediately after Trump’s attack, the Biden campaign headquarters also showed restraint by temporarily suspending election broadcast advertisements and messaging campaigns.
The White House also canceled President Biden’s planned visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson Library on the 15th, where he was scheduled to give a speech on the civil rights movement.
Biden said in an NBC interview that he spoke privately with Trump after the shooting and that they had a “very friendly” conversation.
There is no final decision yet on when Biden’s campaign ads will begin airing again.
But he is showing his intention to continue campaigning in the Western battleground state of Nevada, where he is scheduled to speak at the NAACP, the largest black civil rights organization in the country, and attend an event for UnidosUS, a civil rights group for Latinos.
On the 17th, he will also attend a “Community Campaign Event” in Las Vegas.
Asked whether Biden would change the content of his campaign speeches this week in the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump, O’Malley Dillon, the White House’s designated speechwriter for the national tour, said, “I don’t think the message will be any different than when the president first ran for reelection.”
It is unclear whether the Trump shooting will weaken the calls for Biden’s resignation within the Democratic Party. However, for the time being, those who have been strongly calling for his resignation are likely to pause for now. Since the shooting on the 13th, not a single person within the Democratic Party has called for Biden’s resignation.
When NBC’s Holt asked Biden how he had weathered the most vocal calls for his resignation from within his own party, Biden said, “I was elected by 14 million Democrats in the primary. So I listen to them.”
Biden said his mental capacity is still quite good, but he still finds it “legitimate and natural” for people to ask him questions about his age.
[워싱턴=AP/뉴시스]
2024-07-16 10:16:18