President Joe Biden visited Buffalo, N.Y. on Tuesday to offer his condolences following a mass shooting that claimed 10 lives at a grocery store.
The suspect in Saturday’s massacre allegedly believed in the “great replacement theory” and specifically targeted Black shoppers.
Biden called Saturday's shooting a "murderous, racist rampage" and the U.S. must "reject the lie" of the "replacement" theory.
"The ideology of white supremacy has no place in America. None," Biden said.
Biden took aim at politicians and media personalities who spread the racist ideology.
"I condemn those who spread the lie for power, political gain and for profit," he said.
Biden visited a memorial for the victims before making scheduled remarks. He also met with families of the victims, law enforcement and first responders, and community leaders.
The FBI previously said the massacre would be investigated as a hate crime.
"I want to be clear, for my part, from everything we know, this was a targeted attack, a hate crime, and an act of racially motivated violent extremism,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “While there remain a lot of unknowns, as there always do in an investigation at this stage, what is absolutely certain is that we at the FBI are committed to comprehensively and aggressively investigating Saturday’s attack.”
Biden did not use the Buffalo shooting to renew calls for stricter gun laws, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will continue to encourage Congress to pass new gun laws.
“I think the President, as he's done for this past year, is going to continue to call for gun reform,” she said before his remarks. “That is not going to -- you know, that's not going to change. That is something that -- that he has done this past year every time we have heard of this gun violence.”
