Biden puts the focus on policy – not personality – in return to campaign trail after attempt on Trump’s life

Las Vegas (CNN) — Returning to the campaign trail for the first time after an assassination attempt on his predecessor, President Joe Biden is expected to point to policies – not personality – to make the case against former President Donald Trump.

In advance of public events in Nevada on Tuesday, Biden unveiled new actions to lower housing costs, including a plan to cap rents charged by certain landlords. Officials say the moves are aimed at easing a significant financial burden felt by voters.

But it also allows Biden to sell voters on the substance of his proposals, instead of attacking his rival’s morals and bellicose personality.

The Biden campaign – and the president himself – have pledged to stay away from more divisive rhetoric in the wake of an assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally that took the life of one attendee and injured two others. Biden told NBC News that he meant to “focus on him, focus on what he’s doing” when he referenced putting Trump in a bullseye during a call with donors, even as he slammed Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election outcome and other campaign trail rhetoric.

During the interview with Lester Holt, Biden conceded that using the term “bullseye” was a mistake.

A senior adviser told CNN the campaign’s directive was to use discretion on all Trump-related matters “until further notice.” The Biden campaign and White House immediately took action after Trump was injured at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, pulling down TV ads, pausing outgoing political communications and postponing the president’s trip to Texas on Monday.

Biden on Tuesday will participate in an interview with BET, deliver remarks at the 115^th NAACP National Convention and join Black lawmakers at a summit to discuss economic initiatives. Housing costs have been a particular point of financial pain for many Americans during Biden’s term when the cost of shelter rose more than 20%.

The events will be closely watched as Biden had been fighting off increasing calls for him to leave the race after his debate performance last month. CNN reported Monday that private efforts to nudge Biden out of the race continue in Democratic circles, but Biden said in a separate interview that he was “1,000%” in the race.

A memo written by the Biden campaign’s Nevada communications director, writes that “Nevadans want lower costs,” which it argues the Trump-associated Project 2025 agenda won’t generate.

Trump has floated his own policy proposals geared toward winning support from Silver State voters. At a rally in Nevada, which has the highest share of tipped workers in the country, Trump floated a policy to stop taxing tips that workers receive. Since then, Nevada’s two Democratic senators have co-sponsored a Republican bill to do that.

And Trump told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an interview that he supported releasing federal land to develop more affordable housing – one of the elements of the policy rollout Biden will announce Tuesday.

Biden carried Nevada in 2020 by nearly three points. Polls now show that a Republican could win Nevada for the first time in 20 years, a shift Biden is trying to thwart.

To deepen the engagement voters in the state, Biden campaign offices in Latino and Black neighborhoods in Nevada offer residents events with entertainment and connect them to resources for free housing assistance and free mammograms.

“It’s almost like constituent relations,” a senior campaign official told CNN. “They’re establishing real roots in the community.”

CNN’s MJ Lee, Donald Judd and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

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