Biden: Hate-fueled violence 'has no place in America'

WASHINGTON (AP) — A grocery store in Buffalo. A nightclub in Orlando. A Walmart in El Paso: All sites of hate-fueled violence against Black, Hispanic or LGBTQ Americans over the past five years. And all somber symbols of a “through line” of hate that must be rooted out, President Joe Biden said Thursday.

The administration gathered educators, faith leaders and others who have experienced violence firsthand for a discussion on how stop the violence, and promised action.

In 2020, hate crimes in the U.S. were the highest in more than a decade, and the Justice Department has pledged to increase efforts to counter it. Now, political violence fueled by lies about the 2020 election is overlapping with hate crimes: A growing number of ardent Donald Trump supporters seem ready to strike back against the FBI or others whom they believe are going too far in investigating the former president.

Biden spoke of a hate “through-line” that, along with racism, bigotry and violence, has long plagued the nation. Hate never goes away, he said, it only hides. And it is up to everyday Americans to stop giving it any air and to stamp it out.

“All forms of hate fueled by violence have no place in America,” he said.

The president's somber, reflective tone on America's long history of hate crime was in stark contrast to his sharp-tongued speech a few weeks ago, when he rebuked Trump-supporting Republicans for proliferating falsehoods about the 2020 election that have taken root and fueled violence.

On Thursday, Biden briefly mentioned the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as a moment that didn't reflect “who we are” as a nation. And he said that hate had been given too much oxygen in politics, media and on the internet lately.

“The violence and the haters are in a minority. …...