Biden says worried world leaders ask him if the U.S. will be 'all right'
Citing the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and the Jan. 6 insurrection, President Biden, speaking at South Carolina State University's graduation ceremony, said world leaders have asked him, “Is America going to be all right?”
Video transcript
JOE BIDEN: We continue to confront the oldest and darkest forces in this nation-- hate and racism.
- Yes!
JOE BIDEN: You know, there is a through line from Owensboro Massacre that happened 53 years ago that killed three students, for whom this very area-- this very arena is named, to darkness that pierced the grace of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, which I visited right afterwards, six years ago, to the torches-- those-- did you ever think you'd see, in the modern times, people coming out of the fields down in Charleston-- I mean, in Charlotte, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, carrying torches and Nazi banners, screeching the most anti-Semitic and anti-Black rhetoric in history? Hundreds and hundreds of them.
And when I asked the guy who had this job before, when I asked what he thought about it, he said, well, there's some very good people there. Hell, very good people! They're racists. They're fascists. [SCATTERED APPLAUSE] And folks, that was four years ago. I never thought I'd see that in my career, the violent and deadly insurrection on Capitol Hill 11 months ago on January the 6th.
I'm going to say something self-serving. I'm supposed to know an awful lot about foreign policy. I've known every major world leader in the last 40 years. I've spoken to over 140 heads of state since I've become president. You know what they all ask me? Is America going to be all right? What about democracy in America? Did you ever think you'd be asked that question by another leader? I'm not exaggerating, gentlemen.
