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‘White Supremacy Is a Poison,’ Biden Says as He Calls for Ending Hate Speech and Curbing Guns

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{snip} President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul all called for tighter controls on military-style weapons and hate on the internet as they consoled a city still grieving over the Saturday massacre of 10 people in the Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue.

But the families of those gunned down in a racist rampage by an 18-year-old Broome County resident, affected by Saturday’s events more than any living persons, echoed the idea, too. After meeting with the president and first lady Jill Biden, and expressing their appreciation for their empathy, the Buffalonians called for an end to racism, curbing guns and ending hate speech.

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{snip} Biden delivered the same message in the strongest terms, at one point his voice breaking.

“What happened here is simple and straightforward: terrorism,” he said. “Violence inflicted in the service of hate and a vicious thirst for power that defines one group of people being inherently inferior to any other group.”

Hate stemming from the media, politicians and the internet have combined to radicalize those like Saturday’s shooter, the president said. He especially noted those targeting minorities in the false belief that they aim to replace whites as voters.

“I call on all Americans to reject this lie,” he said. “I condemn those who spread the lie for power, political gain and for profit.”

Biden seemed intent on delivering a definitive speech about opposing the notion that one race is better than another. He recognized that hate at Charlottesville in 2015, he said, and resolved then to run for president in 2020. He pleaded for its end, offering that America is better than those chanting at Charlottesville or the shootings in the Tops on Jefferson Avenue.

“White supremacy is a poison,” he said. “We need to say as clearly and forcefully as we can that the ideology of white supremacy has no place in America.

“This venom, this violence, cannot be the story of our time,” he added.

The president said Americans can keep off the streets weapons like the one that killed 10 Buffalonians Saturday.

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Schumer also referred to his Monday speech on the Senate floor, in which he said, “I called out Murdoch, Fox News and what’s his name, Tucker Carlson.” The senator said on Tuesday he wrote to Fox News about Carlson and his espousal of the idea that immigrants and minorities are attempting to “replace” white voters.

“I said speaking out is not enough, you’ve got to stop this guy,” Schumer said, “because of this vicious, bigoted conspiratorial replacement theory.”

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