President Biden continued to insist that Donald Trump is a danger to democracy, a day after calling on Americans to “turn down the political temperature” following the assassination attempt on him.
“You know, what I’m talking about with him,” Biden asked NBC’s Lester Holt during an interview at the White House, “is the policy issues that he sees dividing the country, the policy issues that have to do with democracy.”
Trump was hit on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, when multiple shots were fired toward the stage at the outdoor venue where he was holding a rally.
In a speech Sunday night, Biden called on Americans to “de-escalate political tensions,” saying, “While we may have differences, we must remember that we are not enemies. We are neighbors, friends, colleagues, fellow citizens, and most importantly, fellow Americans. We must come together.”
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US President Joe Biden speaks about the assassination attempt on former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 14, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
But he brought up some of Trump’s more inflammatory comments, referencing Trump’s response to the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, which he has continued to mention at rallies over the past year.
Holt criticized the president’s response, noting that Biden didn’t sound like he was “easing up on the pressure,” but that Biden claimed he was “easing up on the pressure.”
Biden went on to explain that this meant “we have to stop thinking that there is anything that goes against the democracy that we stand for.”
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Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“You know what, I don’t win the election when every court in the country, 20 courts of appeals, including this conservative Supreme Court, have declared us the winner,” Biden said, referring to the various challenges to his 2020 election victory over Trump.
“The idea is to take the Pledge of Allegiance from all those who are part of the MAGA Republican Party — not all Republicans, but MAGA Republicans — and incite the public to say, no, we lost the election,” Biden added before finishing his sentence.
Holt pressed Biden on what he could do to help unite the country, but Biden continued to talk about the overall negative impact Trump has had on the country.
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““When you drive through certain rural areas of the country, you don’t see a situation like this where people are holding up signs,” Biden said. “You have big Trump signs and little ones that say ‘Fuck Biden,’ and little kids standing there with the middle finger up.”
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“So that’s just inflammatory and spiteful. And it’s quite another to say I really disagree with the way Trump has handled taxes. He wants a $5 trillion tax cut for the people who are going to make him a lot of money in the next election. He’s not focused on working class people,” Biden continued.
