President Joe Biden is upping the pressure for others to speak out and denounce white supremacy.
During remarks in Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday, Biden said, “White supremacy is a poison… running through our body politic. And it’s been allowed to fester and grow right in front of our eyes. No more.”
“We need to say as clearly and forcefully as we can that the ideology of white supremacy has no place in America. None,” he continued.
Additionally, Biden said, “Failure to say that is going to be complicity. Silence is complicity. We cannot remain silent.”
Watch the video below:
Shorter Biden — if you don't join me, you're guilty of "complicity" in "white supremacy" and want to allow it to keep "fester[ing] and grow[ing]" pic.twitter.com/ENdtSY7LvY
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 17, 2022
Biden’s speech comes after a gunman opened fire in a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo on Saturday.
The shooting left 10 people dead, and 13 injured, and law enforcement officials say it was racially motivated.
Eleven of the 13 people shot were Black.
The 18-year-old suspect in the shooting allegedly posted a 180-page document that contained racist language.
According to The Washington Post, the suspect “fixated on the idea that White people are being intentionally replaced.”
“That idea, once relegated to the fringe, has gained currency on popular right-wing television programs and in the halls of Congress,” it explained.
The Post added, “The theory, known as the ‘great replacement,’ has turned white nationalism into an international call to arms.”
On Monday, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) called on Republican leaders to denounce white supremacy and anti-semitism, as IJR reported.
The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism. History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse,” she tweeted.
The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism. History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 16, 2022
Cheney added, “[GOP] leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”