White supremacy is terrorism, says Joe Biden in his first joint address to US Congress

The US President also noted that global terror networks have largely moved beyond America and said white supremacists posed a bigger threat than foreign actors.

Joe Biden speaks during a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, on 28 April 2021 | Photographer: Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Bloomberg

Washington: In his first joint address to the US Congress, President Joe Biden identified white supremacy as a domestic terror threat that America must remain vigilant against.

While discussing his decision to withdraw American troops from war-torn Afghanistan, Biden noted global terror networks have largely moved beyond the country and that white supremacists posed a bigger threat than foreign actors.

“We won’t ignore what our intelligence agencies have determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland today: White supremacy is terrorism, Biden said in the House chamber, which just three months ago was attacked by the supporters of former president Donald Trump in an effort to overthrow the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

“White supremacy is terrorism, and we’re not going to ignore that either. My fellow Americans, look, we have to come together to heal the soul of this nation, the president said.

In remarks, Biden acknowledged the January 6 attempted insurrection at the Capitol, saying it was an existential crisis that tested democracy.

“As we gather here tonight, the images of a violent mob assaulting this Capitol desecrating our democracy remain vivid in all our minds. Lives were put at risk many of your lives. Lives were lost. Extraordinary courage was summoned. The insurrection was an existential crisis a test of whether our democracy could survive. It did,” Biden said.

But he underscored that “the struggle is far from over” and that “the question of whether our democracy will long endure is both ancient and urgent.”