In Buffalo, Biden mourns victims, says ‘evil will not win’

BUFFALO — President Joe Biden mourned with Buffalo’s grieving families on Tuesday, then exhorted the nation to reject what he angrily labeled the poison of white supremacy. Hate will not prevail, white supremacy will not have the last word.” Back at the White House Tuesday evening, Biden laid the blame for the Buffalo incident and others not just on “wackos” who commit hate crimes, but also those who “fill their brains with false ideas.” As long as he is president, he said, “I’m going to fight like hell and we’re going to expose everybody.” Biden’s emotional remarks came after he and first lady Jill Biden paid their respects at a makeshift memorial of blossoms, candles and messages of condolence outside the Tops supermarket, where on Saturday a young man armed with an assault rifle targeted Black people in the deadliest racist attack in the U.S. since Biden took office. Asked about gun legislation, Biden said at the airport, “It’s going to be very difficult.. I’m not going to give up trying.” Wayne Jones, whose mother Celestine Chaney was killed in the attack, said he appreciated Biden taking time to meet with the families, but he was not optimistic anything will be accomplished in Washington without an end to partisan division. The shooter’s writings echoed those of the white supremacists who marched with torches in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, a scene that Biden said inspired his decision to run against President Donald Trump in 2020 and that drove him to join what he calls the “battle for the soul of America.” In Buffalo, Payton Gendron, 18, was arrested at the supermarket and charged with murder. Facebook Alex DeGrasse, a senior adviser to Stefanik’s campaign, said Monday she “has never advocated for any racist position or made a racist statement.” He criticized “sickening and false reporting” about her Stefanik is the third-ranking leader of the House Republican caucus, replacing Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who angered the party with her denunciations of Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.