Biden, Harris imply Trump bears some responsibility for surge in violence against people of Asian descent


President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday met with leaders of Atlanta's Asian American community in the wake of a mass shooting at three different Atlanta area spas during which a lone suspect killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent.
At the moment, authorities are still investigating the suspect's motive. In his confession, Robert Aaron Long reportedly said he acted because of a sex addiction, but there remains widespread speculation that he was targeting people of Asian descent. "Whatever the killer's motive, these facts are clear," Harris said in public remarks after Friday's meeting. "Six out of the eight people killed on Tuesday night were of Asian descent. Seven were women. The shootings took place in businesses owned by Asian Americans. The shootings took place as violent crimes and discrimination against Asian Americans [have] risen dramatically over the last year."
Biden and Harris both also appeared to place some responsibility for the recent surge in violence against people of Asian descent in the United States on former President Donald Trump, though they didn't directly name him. "For the last year, we've had people in positions of incredible power scapegoating Asian Americans, people with the biggest pulpits, spreading this kind of hate," Harris said, likely alluding to politicians like Trump who called the novel coronavirus that sparked the pandemic, the "China virus."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We've always known words have consequences," Biden said. "It's the 'coronavirus.' Full stop." Read more at The New York Times and The Associated Press.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Jared and Ivanka's Albanian island
Under The Radar The deal to develop Sazan has been met with widespread opposition
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California