In his second campaign speech of the election year, President Joe Biden accused former President Donald Trump and his supporters of trying to “steal history."
Speaking at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the site of a racially motivated mass shooting in 2015, the president honed in on an issue he has long cited as an impetus for his 2020 run: white supremacy in America.
“We saw something on Jan. 6 we had never seen before, even during the Civil War,” Biden said of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. “Insurrectionists waving Confederate flags inside the halls of Congress built by enslaved Americans. A mob attacked and called Black officers, Black veterans defending the nation, the most vile of racist names.”
“And yet, an extreme movement in America, the MAGA Republicans, led by a defeated president is trying to steal history now,” he added. “They tried to steal an election, now they are trying to steal history – telling us that violent mob was a, and I quote, ‘peaceful protest.’”
Speaking at the historic church where nine Black people were shot and killed by a white man they welcomed into their Bible study, Biden called white supremacy a “poison” that has, for too long, “haunted this nation.”
“The word of God was pierced by bullets and hate, rage, propelled by not just gunpowder but by a poison,” the president said. “What is that poison? White supremacy.”
“This has no place in America. Not today, tomorrow or ever,” he continued.
Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who perpetrated the mass shooting in 2015, was sentenced to death in 2017 after being found guilty of 33 federal charges, including hate crimes. He pleaded guilty months later to state charges and was sentenced to nine consecutive life sentences.
The Democratic president has long-cited the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that erupted in violent clashes with counter protestors -- and then-President Trump’s response to the incident -- as a main catalyst for his decision to launch a White House bid in 2020. Trump said there was blame “on both sides” in response to the rally.
Monday’s stop in Charleston follows Biden’s first campaign speech of the year on Friday – which came on the eve of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack – in which Biden painted his 2020 opponent and potential 2024 rematch mate as someone who “admires” authoritarian leaders and dictators around the world and uses language echoing that of “Nazi Germany."
Biden, who has leaned into symbolism for his first two 2024 political pitches, delivered his remarks last week from the Valley Forge area – where the Continental Army trained and reorganized under General George Washington during the American Revolution.
“The truth is under assault in America. As a consequence so is our freedom, our democracy, our very country,” Biden said in Monday's speech.
The president appeared to reference a moment on the campaign trail when 2024 GOP presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley did not mention slavery when asked at a town hall to explain the cause of the Civil War.
“So let me be clear, to those who don’t seem to know: slavery was the cause of the Civil War,” Biden said. “There is no negotiation about that.”
Haley later said she thought slavery’s role in the Civil War was a “given” and highlighted that she signed a bill removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol shortly after the 2015 shooting – something Biden also mentioned on Monday without saying Haley’s name.
“You did something that might not have happened but for your courage: you brought down the Confederate flag in South Carolina. You brought it down, you did,” Biden told the audience.
In a statement released on Monday, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican who briefly ran for president in 2024 but dropped out last year, called Biden’s visit to his state a move to “stoke fears.”
“President Biden's visit to Charleston to stoke fears as his numbers are dropping amongst all minority groups is remarkable,” Scott wrote. “But it's also indicative of the fact that people of color, Americans all across this nation, are losing confidence in this president because the economy is volatile. Crime is raging. Education for the poorest kids in America seems elusive.”
The Palmetto state holds a particular importance for Biden politically – who did not shy away from its significance to him on Monday.
“It's because of this congregation and the Black community of South Carolina and – not an exaggeration – and [South Carolina Democratic Rep.] Jim Clyburn that I stand here today as your president,” Biden said. “And I owe you. And I’ve done my best to honor your trust.”
Biden’s success in the South Carolina Democratic primary in 2020 marked a major turnaround for his campaign – one that ultimately led him to the White House – after lackluster performances in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The DNC, with Biden’s support, shook up its primary calendar this year, sliding back the long-time first nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire to put South Carolina in the number one spot. Democratic voters in the Palmetto state will take to the polls on Feb. 3 for this cycle’s primary.
“I’m proud to have led the effort to make sure your voice, your South Carolina voice will always be heard because now you're first in the primary,” Biden said on Monday.
At one point during his speech Monday, Biden was interrupted by protestors calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Pressure has mounted, both on the world stage and at home, for the U.S. president to call for an end to the fighting amid the growing civilian death toll in Gaza.
“I understand their passion,” Biden said. “And I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza.”