Democratic US President Joe Biden admitted on Monday that he was “wrong” when he said it was time for Donald Trump to be “in the crosshairs” during a call with campaign donors early last week, some twenty-four hours before the assassination attempt on his Republican predecessor, with whom he is expected to face off again in the November 5 presidential election.

“It’s time for Trump to be in the crosshairs,” Mr. Biden said in a conversation with Democratic donors on July 8. The phrasing he used came under heavy criticism after the attempt on Mr Trump’s life on Saturday in Pennsylvania.

“It was a mistake to use that word,” the US president acknowledged during an interview he gave to NBC.

“I meant to focus on him, on what he does, on the measures he proposes, on the lies he told in the debate,” he added.

After the gunman’s attack that slightly injured Mr. Trump, the Democratic president is calling for “calm down” of the political climate.

But yesterday he sought to defend himself, explaining his tenuous position against his rival.

“How do you talk about the threat to our democracy, which is real when a (including former) president says things like what he says? Don’t you say anything because that might incite someone?’

He also assured that he does not use rhetoric similar to his opponent. “I do not use such rhetoric. My opponent is resorting to that rhetoric, he’s talking about a ‘slaughterhouse’ if he loses” the election, Mr Biden insisted.

Biden: “I want to fight (with Donald Trump) when we agreed in September”

“I want to fight (Donald Trump) when we agreed (…) in September,” Joe Biden said during the NBC interview, once again dismissing doubts about his mental health and stamina . “My mental acuity is good, damn it,” he said.

“In three and a half years I have done more than any other president in a very long time. I’m ready to be judged for that,” he emphasized, acknowledging, however, that the concerns about his age are “legitimate.”

Two days after the assassination attempt on Trump’s predecessor in Pennsylvania, President Biden also assured that he feels “safe” that his protection is guaranteed by the Secret Service, the elite federal police body responsible for guarding political figures.

Referring to the attack, he questioned whether the secret service could have foreseen what happened and prevented it: it is “an open question”, he said.