President Joe Biden is facing questions about whether he believes Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Republicans deserve “some blame” for a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
After remarks on Tuesday about the mass shooting, which appears to be racially motivated, the president was asked, “Do you believe that certain members of Congress, the Republican Party, as well as Tucker Carlson, who echoed the replacement theory, deserve some blame for the [violence in Buffalo].”
“I believe anybody who echoes the replacement [theory] is to blame, not for this particular crime. But it’s for no purpose, no purpose except profit and or political benefit,” Biden responded.
He added, “And it’s wrong. It’s just simply wrong.”
Watch the video below:
Pres. Biden asked if Tucker Carlson 'deserves some blame' for Buffalo mass shooting: "I believe anybody who echoes replacement theory is to blame – not for this particular crime – but it's for no purpose, no purpose except profit and/or political benefit. And it's wrong." pic.twitter.com/2XoTD7e32v
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 17, 2022
During remarks in Buffalo, 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.”
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.
In the wake of the shooting, some have accused Carlson and Congressional Republicans of spreading the replacement theory.