[UPDATED, 8 p.m.] President Joe Biden criticized the stain of white supremacy and the rise of hatred in America during an emotional 2024 campaign speech Monday at Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME Church, site of the racist killing of nine worshippers in 2015 during a Bible study meeting.
“The word of God was pierced by bullets and hate and rage, propelled by not just gunpowder, but by a poison – a poison that for too long has haunted this nation. What is that poison? White supremacy. That’s all it is – a poison.
“Throughout our history, it has ripped this nation apart. This has no place in America. Not today. Not tomorrow or ever.”
Biden praised the families of survivors and members of the church for how they forgave the shooter, Dylann Roof, in spite of the pain and chaos he left behind.
“This nation saw this congregation, this community, demonstrate one of the greatest acts of strength I have ever seen – I mean it sincerely – the act of forgiveness. The act of grace. It was as President Obama sang from here, Amazing Grace. It changed hearts.”
Later, Biden got emotional when he recalled how members of Emanuel AME helped him and his family heal from the loss of his son just 22 days before the Charleston shooting.
“We were in more pain than we knew,” Biden reflected on his visit as vice president. “We came here to offer comfort and received comfort from you. As I listened in the pews and spent time with the families and visited Reverend [Clementa] Pinckney’s office, visited the memorial of the victims outside, I grew stronger. My family grew stronger. We prayed together. We grieved together. We found hope together for real, for real. It reminds me that each of us must find purpose throughout the pain.”
Later in the speech, Biden further addressed the rise of hatred in America and the importance of unity. There are some people, he said, who believe that “if I hold you down, I lift myself up.” But that is wrong, he continued, advising the crowd to “choose the truth; choose America.”
Reactions to the president’s visit
State Rep. J.A. Moore, a Berkeley County Democrat whose sister was one of the nine victims in the shooting, said Biden’s words were vital to the country.
“I think that it’s critical in a moment such as this that you have the president of the United States come to the sacred grounds where my sister unwittingly gave her life along with eight other parishioners praising a God of justice, a God of understanding and passion.”
Moore added he felt Biden should “demand that the [state] Senate finally pass the hate crime bill that’s been sitting on their side for almost a year now,” noting how South Carolina was only one of two states in the nation to not have such a law in the books.
Colleen Condon, a former county council member who serves as the state Democratic Party’s first vice-chair, praised Biden for his work as president.
“President Biden has looked out for South Carolinians in his first term, and we understand the importance of South Carolina, a state with a large percentage of African Americans, kicking off the reelection process.
“The president’s visit to Mother Emanuel shows the stark contrast of Biden’s accomplishments for real Americans versus more MAGA hate talk.”
Charleston Realtor Ed Sutton, a candidate for state Senate, said Biden has delivered as president for the Palmetto State with big infrastructure investments.
“We can thank Biden for the pending $29 million electric transportation hub at Shipwatch Square in North Charleston. President Biden deserves another 4 years as President, no question in my mind,” he told the Charleston City Paper.
A quelled interruption
Biden’s speech was interrupted at the seven-minute mark by several protesters who shouted for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. One shouted, “If you really care about lives lost here, then you should honor the lives lost here, and call for a ceasefire in Palestine.” But as they were promptly shouted down by the Biden-friendly crowd, who chanted “four more years” over and over.
The president responded by mentioning his behind-the-scenes involvement in negotiations with the Israeli government. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in the region currently to avert a wider war.
But one attendee was mortified by the interruption: “I’m sure the survivors and family members of the Emanuel Nine really appreciated that.”
Free Palestine Charleston, the group behind the disruption, however, said in a release that it had consulted members of the congregation and decided to “wait until…Biden began his speech to disrupt, rather than detracting from any of the church’s esteemed Black elders or devaluing a place of worship.”
Earlier remarks
In introductory remarks before Biden took the stage, 7th District AME ChurchBishop Samuel L. Green highlighted the importance of the 2024’s coming election. He asked the audience to consider who Black radicals like Malcolm X and James Baldwin would support for president – not former President Donald Trump, but Joe Biden. His words met with murmurs and head-nods from the audience.
Longtime Biden ally and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., spoke of the president’s long advocacy in the Black community, including appointing “more women of color to circuit courts than all former presidents combined.”
Clyburn continued by discussing the nation’s health care and student loan debt — and how he believed Biden had addressed these issues for the better.
Biden talks democracy, overcoming hate during Charleston visit
[Editor’s Note: The following is the first version of this story, published soon after Biden gave the speech.]
President Joe Biden today visited the Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun Street to deliver remarks about the importance of democracy and the necessity of confronting hate in this country.
He spoke to a full auditorium at the church, where, on June 17, 2015, nine church members were killed by a self-proclaimed racist during a Bible study meeting.
Biden was joined on stage by Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn and the church’s Bishop Samuel L. Green and pastor the Rev. Eric Manning, all three of whom gave introductory speeches.
Biden’s speech addressed the rise of hatred in America and the importance of unity. There are some people, he said, who believe that “if I hold you down, I lift myself up.” He advised the crowd to “choose the truth. Choose America.”
Biden also criticized the “poison of white supremacy.” He made a point to note that the Civil War was, indeed, a conflict about slavery, ostensibly in response to Republican primary candidate and former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s controversial response last month to a question about the cause of the Civil War.
The president was interrupted around seven minutes into his address by multiple protesters, one of whom shouted, “If you really care about lives lost here, then you should honor the lives lost here, and call for a ceasefire in Palestine.”
The demonstrators were escorted out. Biden responded to the interruption by mentioning his behind-the-scenes involvement in peace negotiations with the Israeli government.
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