President biden
Joe BidenManchin cementes key vote status in the Senate 50-50 The Memorandum: How the year COVID overthrew politics Post-pandemic plans for lawmakers: Chuck E. Cheese, visiting friends, hugging grandchildren MORE condemned “cruel hate crimes” against Asian American and Pacific Island communities on Thursday during his prime-time speech that marked the one-year anniversary of coronavirus restrictions.
During his first prime-time speech as president of the White House, Biden acknowledged the harsh reality after a year of pandemic and blockade, saying that every American suffered some kind of loss.
The president also said that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders work on the frontline of the pandemic every day, but still fear for their personal safety walking the streets of the United States.
“It is wrong. It is not American. And it must stop,” said Biden.
Instead of working together to fight the virus, “we often turn against each other,” continued Biden.
He added that Asian Americans have been “attacked, persecuted, accused and made scapegoats” since COVID-19 hit the United States.
“Many of them are Americans, are at the forefront of this pandemic trying to save lives – and are still forced to live in fear for their lives just walking the streets in the United States,” he said.
Violent attacks against Asian Americans increased last year by almost 150 percent in major cities, especially New York and Los Angeles, reports NBC News.
The increase in violence against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands came after the coronavirus pandemic, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, hit the United States in early 2020.
More than 3,000 hate crimes against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands have been reported since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, which Democratic lawmakers and community activists say are linked to the anti-Asian rhetoric used by political figures like the President Trump
Donald TrumpThe memo: How the year COVID brought politics down Biden seeks its moment with the pandemic speech One year with the coronavirus: How we got there.
During his tenure, Trump has also repeatedly blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic, a move that has exacerbated tensions between Beijing and Washington.