Presumptive Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden<\/a> said Tuesday that local officials, not criminals, bear the blame when vandals pull down statues of Confederate figures.<\/p>\n

Facing reporters\u2019 questions in person for the first time in three months, Mr. Biden<\/a> said local officials \u201chave a responsibility\u201d to move racially charged memorials to museums. The former vice president said he draws a \u201cdistinction\u201d between defacing Confederate statues and vandalizing other memorials to historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand the anger and anguish that people feel by having, for years and years, been under the statue of Robert E. Lee, if you\u2019re an African American,\u201d Mr. Biden<\/a> said. \u201cIt\u2019s a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump campaign has accused Mr. Biden<\/a> of refusing to speak out against vandals who have defaced or destroyed a variety of monuments nationwide during protests over racial injustice.<\/p>\n

Mr. Biden<\/a> said he prefers that communities move deliberately to remove symbols of the Confederacy, such as the Mississippi legislature\u2019s vote last week to remove the Confederate battle flag from its state flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always better to do it peacefully,\u201d Mr. Biden<\/a> said. \u201cBut don\u2019t expect if you have sitting in front of you, after all these years, and we finally \u2026 are going through another phase of maybe responding to the systemic racism in America \u2026 don\u2019t be surprised if someone pulls down the statue of Jefferson Davis.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the same day that Mr. Biden<\/a>, 77, told reporters he get tested \u201cconstantly\u201d for possible cognitive decline, the candidate appeared to mix up the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials in Washington.<\/p>\n

He said tearing down statues of Confederate figures is \u201cfundamentally different than pulling down the statue or going in the Lincoln Memorial and trying to pull \u2026 that\u2019s a bad example, the Jefferson Memorial and grabbing Jefferson off his chair.\u201d<\/p>\n

A statue of Jefferson stands at the center of the Jefferson Memorial. A sculpture of Lincoln is seated in a chair at the Lincoln Memorial.<\/p>\n