Biden spoke from the pulpit of the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof gunned down nine Black parishioners in 2015. The visit comes as his campaign sharpens its attacks on former President Donald Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican Party's 2024 nomination.
"The truth is under assault in America (and) as a consequence so is our freedom, our democracy, our very country," Biden said.
The president referred directly to the 2015 attack at the church.
"The word of God was pierced by bullets of hate and rage propelled by not just gunpowder, but by a poison. Poison that has for too long haunted this nation. And what is that poison? white supremacy," Biden said. "This has no place in America — not today, tomorrow or ever."
Biden's remarks were interrupted by protesters chanting "ceasefire now," referring to Israel's assault on Gaza that has killed more than 23,000 people. Biden said he has been working with the Israeli government to "get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza."
Some audience members chanted "four more years" when Biden took to the pulpit and again as those protesters were led away.
Biden described Trump as a threat to democracy, citing the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters in 2021 hoping to overturn the Republican's election loss.
"That violent mob was whipped up by lies from a defeated former president," Biden said. "His actions were among the worst dereliction of duty of any president in American history."
Trump failed to concede the 2020 election or acknowledge the votes of millions, Biden said, despite dozens of court cases affirming Biden's victory.
"He's a loser," Biden said, drawing applause from hundreds attending the speech.
Recent polling has shown Trump beating Biden, a Democrat, in swing states that will determine who wins the White House this year, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll in December showed a rematch would be close.
Biden's trip to the Southern state comes as some Democrats have raised questions about his reelection strategy. Some donors have been eager to hear Biden be more candid or more aggressively target Trump rather than focus on the economy.
Representative James Clyburn, a Democrat whose endorsement helped Biden win South Carolina in the 2020 primary, said on Sunday he was concerned about Biden's standing with Black voters and frustrated that the president's record had not resonated.
"I have told him what my concerns are," Clyburn told CNN. "I have no problem with the Biden administration and what it has done. My problem is that we have not been able to break through that MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this president has done."
MAGA refers to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Polls show support for Biden by Black voters has softened.
Former President Barack Obama, who is concerned about Trump's potential to win in 2024, discussed the campaign over lunch with Biden before Christmas, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Obama has told allies that Biden's campaign needs to have the power to make decisions without White House clearance.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre criticized Trump earlier Monday aboard Air Force One for his comments on Saturday describing those jailed in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol as "hostages," and what she called continuing "misinformation and disinformation" about that day.
SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST
Biden's trip comes as Democrats have shifted their primary calendar to put South Carolina first, leapfrogging Iowa's caucus and New Hampshire's traditional first-in-the-country primary vote.
South Carolina has not backed a Democrat for president since 1976, but Democrats believe the state's diverse population better reflects the party's voters.
The campaign is investing earlier than ever to reach voters of color, rather than parachuting in closer to Election Day simply to drive turnout, one campaign adviser told Reuters.
