Former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield on Monday corrected herself and apologized after saying Democrats must choose “to try to win this election and turn their fire on Donald Trump.”
President Joe Biden called for America to “lower the temperature in our politics” following the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, but he became defensive when pressed by NBC News host Lester Holt about rhetoric that may incite violence. Bedingfield, who was White House communications director under Biden, said she “shouldn’t have” used the expression “turn their fire,” changing it to “turn their focus.”
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“He has said many, many times, after having been questioned many times about this, that he’s not stepping down and he’s going to be the nominee,” Bedingfield said. “So at some point, Democrats have to decide that they want to try to win this election and turn their fire on Donald Trump. I think there is — I shouldn’t have said ‘turn their fire.’ I apologize. That was not the phrase that I meant. They need to turn their focus on Donald Trump.”