'Bull's-eye comment on Trump was mistake': Biden amid assassination allegations

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that it was a "mistake" to say that he wanted to put Donald Trump in "bull's-eye" after he received flak for using rhetoric that might have led to the assassination attempt on former US president.
Several Trump supporters have accused Biden and fellow Democrats of stirring up animosity towards Trump, pointing out Biden's remarks during a private call to donors, where he reportedly said it's "time to put Trump in a bull's-eye."
Defending his remarks, Biden said in an interview to NBC News “I didn’t say ‘crosshairs.’ I meant ‘bull's-eye.’ I meant focus on him.Focus on what he’s doing, focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate."
"Focus on — I mean there is a whole range of things that, look, I am not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one, I am not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I am not the guy who said that he won’t 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,” he added.
Trump's newly elected vice presidential running mate JD Vance had alleged Biden's involvement in shooting at Trump's rally on Sunday in Pennsylvania that left his right ear injured. The suspect and an attendee died in the incident.
"Today is not just some isolated incident," Vance said.
"The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination", he added in a post on X.
Terming Vance a "clone of Trump on the issues", Biden said, "He talks a big game about working people. But now, he and Trump want to raise taxes on middle-class families while pushing more tax cuts for the rich."