Former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield corrected and apologized on Monday after saying Democrats must choose to “win this election and go on the offensive against Donald Trump.”
President Joe Biden called for America to “lower the political temperature” following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, but got defensive when pressed by NBC News host Lester Holt about comments that could incite violence. Bedingfield, who served as White House communications director under Biden, said the phrase “launching their attack” “should not have been used,” correcting it to “directing their focus.” (Related article: ‘I should have died’: Donald Trump reflects on ‘very surreal’ near-death experience)
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Biden administration official corrects himself after saying Democrats need to ‘go on the offensive’ to defeat Trump pic.twitter.com/QWLgfB4SIH
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“He has said time and time again, after being asked about it multiple times, that he is not going to step down and that he is going to be the nominee,” Bedingfield said. “So at some point, Democrats have to make the decision to win this election and launch an attack on Donald Trump. I shouldn’t have said launch an attack. Sorry. Those weren’t the words I meant. They need to focus on Donald Trump.”
Biden told donors on a private conference call on July 8 that his “only job is to defeat Donald Trump” and that “it’s time to put Trump at the center of the target.” Politico report.
“Let’s talk about the debate this has sparked. It’s about words, what we say out loud and the consequences,” Holt said. “On a conference call a week ago, you called your opponent an ‘existential threat.’ You said, ‘It’s time to put Trump at the center of the target.’ We can disagree on the context, but I think you get it.”
“I didn’t say I was targeting,” Biden responded. “I said I was focused. In fact, I think what I was saying at the time was that there was very little focus on Trump’s policies.”
Biden said it was a “mistake” to say “bullseye.”
“I didn’t say aim for the crosshairs, I meant aim for the bullseye, zero in on him,” he added.
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