President Joe Biden said "white supremacy" was at the root of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

He made the comment during a speech Thursday alongside Vice President Kamala Harris to mark the 10th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.

"You know, there's a tough through-line of subjugation of enslaved people from our earliest days to the reigns of radicalized terror of the KKK to Dr. King being assassinated," Biden said.

EXCHANGE BETWEEN MANCHIN AND SANDERS GETS TENSE IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING ON SPENDING BILL

"And through that — though that line continues to be torturous, emerging from dark shadows in Charlottesville, carrying out Nazi banners, and chanting antisemitic bile and Ku Klux Klan flags, and the violent, deadly insurrection on the Capitol nine months ago — it was about white supremacy, in my view," he said.

The siege of Congress, when hundreds of people stormed the Capitol complex as lawmakers convened to affirm President Joe Biden's electoral victory, remains under intense scrutiny, including former President Donald Trump's actions. Hundreds of people have been charged in connection to the riot.

In March, FBI Director Christopher Wray said some of those arrested were classified under “militia violent extremism," pointing to members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. Others were “racially motivated violent extremists, specifically advocating for the superiority of the white race," Wray said.

In his address Thursday, the president also mentioned the recent increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans and growing antisemitism worldwide.

"The through-line is that hate never goes away," Biden said. "It never — I thought, in all the years I'd been involved — I thought once we got through it, it would go away. But it doesn't. It only hides."

The president echoed earlier remarks, in which he claimed that white supremacist domestic groups are a significant threat to the United States.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The president also remarked on the lack of progress for passing police reform legislation in Congress.

"I know the frustration we all feel, that more than one year after George Floyd's murder, and the conviction of his murderer about six months ago, meaningful police reform in George's name has still not passed Congress," he said.

Biden said he intends to continue fighting for "real police reform legislation."

Washington Examiner Videos

Tags: News, Joe Biden, White supremacists, Martin Luther King, White House, January 6

Original Author: Christopher Hutton

Original Location: Biden says Capitol riot was about 'white supremacy'