‘Silence is complicity’: Joe Biden addresses nation after Atlanta mass shooting

Kamala Harris spoke first, talking about the "heinous act of violence… that has no place in the state of Georgia or in the United States."

She said "the crises we face are many, the foes we face are many," and went on to talk about hate crimes against Asian Americans, noting that 3,800 incidents have been reported over the past year.

"It's all harmful, and sadly it's not new," she said. "Racism is real in America, and it has always been," she said, noting that xenophobia and sexism are also real. She called out the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act as well as Japanese Internment during World War II. Not just Asians, but Muslims, she said, have been scapegoated.

Harris spoke about former President Trump and his administration, doing the very thing she accused so many others of doing, scapegoating him for anti-Asian sentiment. "People with the biggest pulpits spreading this kind of hate," she intoned.

"Ultimately this is about who we are as a nation," she said, "This is about how we treat people, with dignity and respect. Everyone has the right to go to work, to go to school, to walk down the street and be safe. And also the right to be recognized as an American, not as the other, not as them, but as us.

"A harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. The president and I will not be silent. We will not stand by. We will always speak out against violence, hate crimes, and discrimination wherever, whenever, it occurs."

Biden took the podium after the Vice President, apologizing for being late, saying that they met with the AAPI community and "it was heart wrenching to listen to them."

Given the events of the recent days, he said, the cancelled the "car rally" they were planning to have. He said that he is steadfast in his mission to "come together," and to "unite as one nation."

"I believe with every fiber of our being there are some core beliefs that should bring us together as Americans. One of them is to stand together against hate, to stand together against racism, the ugly poison that has long haunted and plagued our nation."

Biden said that he and Harris met with Asian American leaders in Georgia to talk about Tuesday's mass shooting, which he called "another example of the public health crisis of gun violence in this country."

He said that he and Harris are keeping tabs on the investigation, but that "whatever the motivation we know this: too many Asian Americans have been walking up and down the streets and worrying. Waking up and mourning the past year, feeling the past year their safety and the safety of their loved ones are at stake.

"They've been attacked, scapegoated, and harassed. They've been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed," and said incidents of hate crimes against Asian Americans have spiked over the past year.

"It's been a year of living in fear for their lives just to walk down the street," and said "small business owners have been attacked and gunned down." Biden said that twice as many Asian American women have suffered attacks and harassment as men.

"We're learning again what we've always known: words have consequences. It's the coronavirus, full stop. The conversation we had today with the AAPI leaders and what we're hearing all across the country is that hate and violence are hiding in plain site."

"Our silence is complicity," Biden said, aping progressive talking points. "We cannot be complicit. We have to speak out. We have to act."

He then spoke to the executive order he signed to force the DOJ to deal with xenophobia and domestic terrorism. And he called for more laws, such as the COVID 19 hate crimes act, and touted the re-uppiung of the Violence Against Women Act.

"For all the good that laws can do we have to change our hearts. Hate can have no safe harbor in America. It must stop. It's on all of us, all of us together, to make it stop."

"Something else must bring us together, and that is a belief in science. Science isn't something that should divide us. There's nothing political about it. There's nothing partisan about it. One of America's best examples to commitment to science is headquartered right here in Atlanta," he said, speaking of the CDC.

He thanked them for their work during the pandemic, and said he had a "commitment to give them everything they need… free of politics and guided by science." Biden then noted that the US has given 100 million doses of vaccines under his administration, while the total is closer to 113 million.

"This is a time of optimism but it's not a time for relaxation," he said, saying to "keep masking up… and to get vaccinated when it's your turn. None of this is political, it's all science based. This is not the time to let our guard down."

"Things may get worse as new variants of the virus spread," he said. Earlier in the day, at a visit to the CDC, he said that "Science is back. All kidding aside, just think about it… science was viewed as an appendage to anything else that we were talking about, but it's back."

Biden spoke about the election, saying it was free and fair, and but that the battle for voting rights is never over, and that Georgia "just proved" that voting matters. He also spoke about his American Rescue Plan, upon which he has staked much of his presidency thus far.

Biden spoke about rebuilding, and giving people "a fair shot for a change," saying that this plan proves to people that "the government works." He said that this massive spending bill has brought the country together into its $1.9 trillion fold, even if "Republicans didn't vote for it."

"That measure of unity, that's what matters," Biden said.