Biden defends saying ‘time to put Trump in a bullseye’ days before assassination attempt and gives bizarre explanation: ‘I didn’t say crosshairs’

President Biden defended himself by saying it was “time to put Trump in the crosshairs,” just days after the attempted assassination of the former president. He tried to explain what he meant, while calling on politicians to tone down their rhetoric.

Biden spoke with NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt for an exclusive interview in which he was asked about his words before the shooting in a July 8 phone call with donors.

“You said it’s time to target Trump. There’s some disagreement about the context, but you realize that words matter,” Holt said.

“I didn’t say ‘crosshairs,'” Biden replied. “I said ‘focus on.'”

“Look, the truth is, there was very little attention paid to Trump’s agenda at the time,” Biden continued.

When Holt pointed out that the term was “bullseye” and not “crosshair,” Biden said, “It was a mistake to use the word. I didn’t say ‘crosshairs,’ I meant bullseye, I meant ‘focus on him.’

Biden said he meant, “focus on what he’s doing, focus on his policies.”

The president then went on to rail against Trump, talking about the “lies he told during the debate” and saying there was much more going on.

“I’m not the guy who said on Day One that he wanted to be a dictator. I’m not the guy who refused to accept the results of the election,” Biden said.

The president was asked if he had done any “soul searching” about things he had said that might encourage people who are “unbalanced.”

The President paused before responding.

“Look, how do you talk about the real threat to democracy when a president says the things he says?” Biden said. “Do you just say nothing because it might incite someone?”

The clip of Biden’s response was released Monday afternoon ahead of the full interview. It comes as the president is back on the campaign trail this week following the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, PA, in which a bullet grazed the former president’s ear.

Biden condemned the shooting immediately after it happened, calling it “sickening.”

He has tried to calm the fear and anger that has crept into the election cycle following the assassination attempt. Some Republicans have blamed Democrats and the president’s rhetoric in the aftermath of the shooting.

On Sunday, the president delivered a speech from the Oval Office calling for an end to political violence, noting that both Democrats and Republicans have been targeted in the violence.

“You know the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to tone it down a little bit,” Biden said. “Politics should never be a literal battlefield — God forbid a battlefield.”

Donald Trump arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday for the GOP convention, a day after the attempt on his life

Biden claimed in his interview with Holt that he did not engage in that rhetoric.

“Now my opponent has engaged in that rhetoric,” Biden told NBC News, pointing to Trump saying there would be a “bloodbath” if he lost and suspending the sentences of the Jan. 6 rioters.

The president also criticized Trump for joking about the gavel attack on Paul, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The criticism comes as Biden resumes campaigning this week.

Biden was originally scheduled to be in Austin, Texas, on Monday for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but his campaign canceled the trip after the shooting.

Biden now heads to Las Vegas, where he will spend two days talking to Black and Latino voters as he struggles to reboot his campaign after the horrific attack on his political rival.