Related: ‘It’s time to lower the temperature,’ says President Joe Biden in rare White House address following Trump shooting
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Joe Biden struck a combative tone in his latest campaign reset interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday night following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last month, which led panicked Democrats to call on the president to drop out of the 2024 race.
Biden rejected the idea he should debate Trump again before the Democratic National Convention in August but admitted it had been a “mistake” to use the word “bullseye” during a campaign call with supporters urging them to focus on Trump’s agenda just prior to the attempted assassination of the former president on Saturday.
“It was a mistake to use the word,” Biden told Holt.
“I didn’t say ‘crosshairs’. I said ‘bullseye.’ Focus on what he’s doing. Focus on his policies. Focus on the number of lies he told in the debate.”
During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, the newly-confirmed Republican presidential nominee was clipped in the right ear by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, whose motive remains a mystery.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi is meanwhile reportedly “convinced Biden will lose” in November and “working the phones” behind the scenes to plot his removal for the Democratic ticket.
Key PointsShow latest update 1721125822Musk to donate $45m a month to pro-Trump PAC after shooting
Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people, is planning to donate roughly $45m every single month to a PAC backing Trump’s presidential campaign, according to reports.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss, who also owns the social media platform X, had already reportedly donated a “sizeable amount” to a pro-Trump fundraising group, but the amount was unknown.
Now, The Wall Street Journal has reported the longtime electric vehicle advocate will be donating the staggering monthly sum to a new pro-Trump super PAC alongside coal billionaire Joe Craft, Palantir co-founder Jo Lonsdale and the Winklevoss twins.
Joe Sommerlad16 July 2024 11:30
1721124022Judge dismisses Trump’s classified documents case
Another bombshell development from yesterday, and another major win for Trump, was Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to throw out the criminal case against the Republican nominee after he was charged with hoarding government documents and classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago compound after leaving office, then obstructing law enforcement attempts to get them back.
Judge Cannon’s ruling argues that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the US Constitution and “usurps” the role of Congress in funding that office and finds that Smith did not have the authority to bring the indictment against Trump last summer.
This was Trump’s response to the decision on Truth Social:
Alex Woodward reports on the latest in a string of blows suffered by those hoping to see Teflon Don face the consequences for at least one of the many, many bad things he has done.
Joe Sommerlad16 July 2024 11:00
1721123122Follow our dedicated liveblog for all the latest from the RNC
You can follow all the latest from the RNC via our dedicated liveblog below.
For all other US political matters – and the fallout from Trump’s shooting – stick with us right here.
Joe Sommerlad16 July 2024 10:45
1721122222Pelosi ‘convinced Biden will lose’ and working behind scenes to plot his ouster
Despite the president being given a brief reprieve from the feverish speculation about his future by Trump’s spectacular return to the headlines, Politico’s Jonathan Martin writes that there’s still plenty going on behind closed doors in DC:
“Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, convinced Biden will lose, has been working the phones since June 27 in hopes of finding a way to ease him off the ticket.
“One of her colleagues was struck to see her chatting, furtively but openly, with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries last week in a corner of the House Democratic cloakroom in plain sight of a dozen lawmakers.
“The extent of Pelosi’s behind-the-scenes role hasn’t been fully revealed and may never be if the former speaker has her way. But I’m told by people familiar with the exchanges that she’s stage-managed phone calls to Jeffries, plotted strategy with the biggest names in Democratic politics and told one former elected official bluntly that Biden’s legacy can’t be destroying their party.”
Pelosi has certainly been cagey in her public remarks about Biden since the debate, calling on him to make a decision without actually explicitly saying that it should be for him to drop out, or emphatically endorsing him.
Here’s Gustaf Kilander on what she had to say to MSNBC last week.
Joe Sommerlad16 July 2024 10:30
1721120422‘Combative’ Biden defends mental fitness but rejects new Trump debate before DNC
The president rejected the idea he should debate Trump again before the Democratic National Convention in August during last night’s interview and also fired back at Holt’s questions about his mental fitness and accused news outlets of failing to treat Trump’s false statements during their debate with the same level of scrutiny.
Biden insisted that he is control of his faculties in yesterday’s interview and committed to staying in the race against his Republican rival despite calls from voters and Democratic Party officials to step aside in the aftermath of his disastrous debate performance.
Biden admitted he’s “old” and that concerns about someone his age in the White House are “legitimate.”
“But I’m only three years older than Trump, number one, and number two, my mental acuity has been pretty damn good,” he said.
“I’ve gotten more done than any president has in a long time in three-and-a-half years. I’m willing to be judged on that.”
He added: “I understand why people say, ‘God, he’s 81 years old. Whoa. What’s he gonna be when he’s 83 years old, 84 years?’ It’s a legitimate question to ask.”
Joe Sommerlad16 July 2024 10:00
1721118622Biden admits saying ‘bullseye’ was a ‘mistake’
Let’s start by recapping Joe Biden’s big interview with Lester Holt on NBC News last night.
In his latest attempt at a big reset in the wake of disastrous debate performance in Atlanta last month, the president admitted it was a “mistake” to use the word “bullseye” during a campaign call with supporters urging them to focus on Donald Trump’s agenda prior to the attempted assassination of the former president on Saturday.
“It was a mistake to use the word,” Biden told Holt during their interview at the White House on Monday.
“I didn’t say ‘crosshairs’. I said ‘bullseye.’ Focus on what he’s doing. Focus on his policies. Focus on the number of lies he told in the debate.”
During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekened the newly-confirmed Republican presidential nominee was clipped in the right ear by a sniper’s bullet by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, whose motive remains a mystery.
Asked if the shocking attack on Trump had “changed the trajectory” of the presidential race, Biden told Holt: “I don’t know – and you don’t know either.”
He continued: “I’ve thought less about the trajectory of the case [than] two things: one, what his health is and number two what happens from here on, in terms of the kind of coverage that the president and vice president and former president and new vice president get.”
Here’s more from Alex Woodward.
Joe Sommerlad16 July 2024 09:30
1721114100Melania Trump urges Americans to come ‘together as one’ after assassination attempt on Donald Trump
“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” the former first lady wrote in a statement shared on X on Sunday.
“I am grateful to the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband,” she said.
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 08:15
1721113216Dozens of Democrats call on Biden to end reelection bid
Nearly two dozen of Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats in Congress have called on him to end his reelection bid and allow the party to pick another standard bearer.
The focus this week will be squarely on Donald Trump.
Having consolidated party control, Trump could seize on the opportunity to deliver a unifying message or paint a dark portrait of a nation under siege by a corrupt leftist elite, as he has done at times on the campaign trail.
US president Joe Biden arrives in Las Vegas ahead of campaign events (EPA)
Trump has frequently turned to violent rhetoric in campaign speeches, labeling his perceived enemies as “vermin” and “fascists.”
Mr Biden has cast Trump as a threat to US democracy, comments that some Republicans say helped foster an atmosphere that prompted the shooting even though authorities have yet to determine the motive for the assassination attempt.
Following Saturday’s shooting, Mr Biden sought to lower the temperature after months of heated political rhetoric.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” Mr Biden said in an address from the White House on Sunday.
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Mr Biden said it was a “mistake” to tell donors last week it was “time to put Trump in the bullseye” but noted that Trump has often used incendiary words.
Namita Singh16 July 2024 08:00
1721111544Has Trump pushed Biden into the background?
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump, followed by the RNC convention, has pushed Joe Biden to the background after weeks of speculation about whether he might drop out of the race following a disastrous debate performance last month.
Mr Biden again rejected the notion on Monday when pressed by NBC’s Lester Holt, focusing instead on the myriad falsehoods Trump unleashed during the debate.
The president has stepped up his unscripted appearances to try to demonstrate his capability but has yet to assuage some Democrats’ fears about his reelection chances.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump appears during Republican National Convention on 15 July 2024 (AP)
The race between Trump and Mr Biden remains close, according to public opinion polls, though Trump leads in several swing states likely to decide the election.
Monday began with the latest in a string of recent legal victories for Trump, when US District Judge Aileen Cannon threw out federal charges in Florida accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents.
Trump is due to be sentenced in New York in September for trying to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks before his 2016 election victory.
Namita Singh16 July 2024 07:32
1721110320
RFK Jr and JD Vance to receive Secret Service after Trump rally shooting
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Ohio Senator JD Vance will now both receive Secret Service protection, following the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump. Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday (13 July) The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was killed at the scene by Secret Service agents, but not before he had shot dead one bystander and critically injured two more. At the direction of President Joe Biden, both political figures will now receive protection, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Monday (15 July). “In light of this weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr.,” Mayorakas said at the White House during a daily briefing.
Alex Lang16 July 2024 07:12
Source link : https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/biden-interview-nbc-news-trump-b2580333.html
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Publish date : 2024-07-16 06:00:22
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