Rerun: Biden Livestream Address On Spa Shootings From Atlanta

ATLANTA — President Joe Biden's return to Atlanta today following the deadly shooting incident Tuesday that killed eight people at three massage parlors in Acworth and in Atlanta was intended to drive home a message of unity.

While initially planned as part of the so-called “Help Is Here” tour to tout the American Rescue Plan and to encourage people to get COVID-19 vaccines, plans for the trip changed abruptly to include a response to the tragedy.

Vice President Kamala Harris also traveled to Atlanta as part of the visit with both she and the president landing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base around lunchtime.

They visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Decatur then Emory University where they met with Asian-American and Pacific Island as well as local leaders — including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance and Atlanta's U.S. Congresswoman Nikema Williams — and delivered a live-streamed address before returning to Washington, D.C.

Both Harris and Biden touched on the events of Tuesday when police said 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long bought a handgun, then went to a spa in Acworth, then two in Atlant and shot nine people. While one man survived with injuries, eight people, including six Asian women, were killed.

Harris spoke directly to the concerns she and the president said AAPI representatives expressed to them during their meeting.

“Asian Americans have been attacked and scapegoated,” she said referring to blame lobbied by some against Asian people because the coronavirus pandemic originated in China’s Wuhan Province.

“Everyone has the right to go to work, to go to school, to walk down the street to be safe. And also, the right to be recognized as an American, not as the other. Not as them.”

Biden spoke to the moment as well before briefly widening his scope to address everything from restrictive voting legislation in Georgia and other states to remaining steadfast to CDC recommendations social distancing, masking and vaccinations to beat COVID -19 through

“We just met my goal of administering 100 million shots before my first 100 days,” he said. “While this is a time for optimism, it’s not a time for relaxation. I need all of you to keep doing your part. Wash your hands stay socially distanced. Keep masking up as recommended by the CDC and get vaccinated when it's your turn. Now is not the time to let our guard down.”

Biden then turned to voting rights and pointed to the historic election turnout across the nation and in Georgia that could be jeopardized by state bills intended to limit voting.

“The fact that there was a record turnout in America in the last election, in the midst of a pandemic should be something we celebrate not attack,” he said. “The fact that you held a free and fair election in Georgia that stood up to recount after recount court case after court case is something that you should be proud of.”

Earlier in the day before leaving Washington, D.C., Biden announced the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act that would speed federal assistance to law enforcement investigating such incidents. While he acknowledged that Tuesday’s incident may not have been racially motivated, he said it was still time to speak out against the mistreatment of Asian Americans.

“I call on the Senate to swiftly pass it and get it to my desk,” he said. “But for all the good laws can do, we have to change our hearts.”

He said people scapegoating and attacking Asian Americans “can have no safe harbor in America. It must stop, and so it’s on all of us, all of us together to make it stop.”

Finally, he embraced the role of “comforter in chief” when he spoke to the families affected by the deadly spa shootings.

“I assure you, the one you lost will always be with you,” Biden said. “The day will come, and their memory brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye as unbelievable as that is now. It will take a while, but I promise you it will come.”

The president landed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base at around 12:45 p.m., and traveled from there to DeKalb Peachtree Airport, where Biden boarded Marine One to helicopter to the CDC, the White House said.

There he and Harris received COVID-19 and health equity briefings from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walenski, Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC's chief COVID-19 response incident manager, and CDC COVID-19 Response Chief Health Equity Officer Dr. Leandris Liburd.

Williams, of Georgia's 5th Congressional District, also attended the briefing.

After meeting with Bottoms and AAPI leaders, Biden delivered his speech — about 15 minutes long — from Emory's campus and the motorcade returned the presidential entourage to Airforce One to leave Atlanta.