President Joe Biden performed his role as comforter in chief for what could be the last time as he grieved with those affected by the New Orleans attack amid criticism that he previously downplayed the threat of Islamic terrorism.
During an interfaith prayer service for the 14 victims of the attack, Biden acknowledged to those gathered at the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, that their “shock and pain” must be “still so very raw.”
“My wife, Jill, and I are here to stand with you, grieve with you, pray with you, let you know you are not alone,” he told the crowd on Monday. “We know what it’s like to lose a piece of our soul, the anger, the emptiness, the black hole that seems to be sucking you into your chest, the sense of loss, the questions of faith in your soul.”
He added, “They came from different states, even different countries. There were children at dinner with their parents before joining their friends on New Year’s Eve. Some even ran toward the chaos to try to help save others.”
During their hourslong trip to New Orleans, the president and first lady Jill Biden spoke with some of the victims’ families, survivors, and local law enforcement after also stopping at Bourbon Street, the site of the attack, and paying their respects at a makeshift memorial that has sprung up in its wake.
“We think of the brave responders, law enforcement officers, officials, who risked their lives to stop the terror and save others, including two of those officers that I met tonight injured in the firefight,” the president said during the interfaith prayer service. “If there’s one thing we know: New Orleans defines strength and resilience.”
Joe Biden’s trip came shortly after the FBI announced on Sunday that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, traveled to New Orleans twice before the attack and recorded video of the French Quarter with Meta smart glasses. Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and former U.S. Army soldier who was based in Texas, cited ISIS as inspiration when he drove a rented pick-up truck through Bourbon Street at about 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, killing 14 and injuring 35 with his vehicle and gunfire. Jabbar was shot dead by police.
Joe Biden has been criticized since the attack for previously saying white supremacy presents the greatest threat to homeland security and not Islamic terrorism.
“White supremacy is a poison,” Joe Biden told the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law in the summer of 2023. “It’s a poison that’s been allowed to grow faster and fester in our communities to the point where the intelligence community has determined — the U.S. intelligence community has determined that domestic terrorism, rooted in white supremacy, is the greatest terrorist threat we face in the homeland — the greatest threat.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond to questions about whether Joe Biden has the same opinion 18 months later.
“Does the president still consider white supremacy the greatest terrorist threat to the United States?” a reporter asked as Jean-Pierre departed the briefing room on Friday.
The trip simultaneously created a split screen between Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, his predecessor and successor, with Vice President Kamala Harris overseeing the certification of the Electoral College results in Washington before Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
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In an op-ed published in the Washington Post late Sunday, Joe Biden implored the public to remember how “violent insurrectionists attacked the Capitol, threatened the lives of elected officials and assaulted brave law enforcement officers” four years ago.
“We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault,” Joe Biden wrote. “But we should not forget. We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it. We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago.”
