Biden Denies Using Hateful Rhetoric, Pivots To 'Bloodbath' Hoax During Post-Assassination Attempt Interview

President Joe Biden spoke to NBC host Lester Holt in his first interview since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. The network has released parts of the interview that will air in full later Monday evening.

During the conversation, Holt pressed Biden on whether his inflamed rhetoric had put a target on Trump's back. 

Holt: "Well, let's talk about the conversation this has started. And it's really about language, what we say out loud in the consequences of those you called your opponent and existential threat. On a call a week ago, you said it's time to put Trump in the bullseye. There's some dispute about the context, but I think you appreciate the word there."

Biden: "I didn't say crosshairs. I was talking about focus on. Look, the truth of the matter was, well, I guess I was talking about at the time was there was very little focus on Trump's agenda."

Holt: "Yeah. The term was bullseye."

Biden: "Was a mistake to use the word I didn't I didn't say crosshairs. I meant bullseye. I meant focus on him. Focus on what he's doing. Focus on one on his policies. Focus on the number of lies he told. The debate focus. I mean, there's there's a whole range of things that, look, I'm not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one. I'm not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I'm not the guy who said that one accept the outcome of this election automatically. You can't only love your country when you win. And so the focus was on what he's saying and I mean the idea."

When asked to clarify, Biden told Holt he has "not engaged in that type of rhetoric:"

Biden: "Well, I don't think, okay. How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real? When a president says things like, he says. Do you just not say anything, becacuse it may incite somebody. Look, I, I've, I have not engaged in that rhetoric."

The president then proceeded to spread the "bloodbath" hoax again – which is, by definition, the very type of rhetoric he denies using.  

Biden: "Now, my, my, my opponent is engaged in that rhetoric. He talks about it to be a bloodbath if he loses, talking about how he's kind to forgive over and actually, I guess, suspend the sentences of all those who were arrested and sentenced to go to jail because of what happened in the Capitol. I'm not out there making fun of like, I remember the picture of Donald Trump when Nancy Pelosi's husband was hit with a hammer. Go on talking about joking about it."

For context, Trump discussed putting tariffs on Chinese-made cars that China would sell to Americans during an Ohio rally in March. He said if Biden is re-elected, there would be a "bloodbath" of jobs in the automotive industry.

Here were Trump's exact words:

If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now… you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us, no. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected.

Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories."

Yet, Biden, Democrat lawmakers, and the corporate media have continuously depicted Trump's remarks as if he were threatening to incite a "bloodbath" on Americans if they don't vote for him.

NBC, Lester Holt's network, was one of the first outlets to spread that lie:

Based on the transcript released by NBC, Holt did not correct Biden during the interview by providing the full context of Trump's use of the term. OutKick asked NBC if Holt addressed the remark later in the discussion. 

We will update this story if we hear back.

Holt should have. He has a responsibility as an interviewer to quash the propaganda of his interviewees before their lies creep further into the mainstream. It's a dangerous practice to allow Americans to think a presidential nominee essentially threatened a civil war – as in a "bloodbath" – when he did not.

The very people who use the phrase "threat to Democracy" – primarily Democrats and media members – jeopardize the safety of Democracy by telling their followers Trump is Hitler and therefore a threat to their safety.

Such lies naturally lead to fear and hatred, the two most common precursors to violence.

We do not know the motives of the wannabe assassin (we will not say his name and glorify him) as of publication. But we do know that he is 20 years old. He has heard for around half of his life that Trump was an existential threat to democracy. You can read more on this in a column we published Monday.