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Biden Drops 'No Firecrackers' Joke While Celebrating Lunar New Year After Shootings in California

© AFP 2023 / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSUS President Joe Biden watches the Choy Wun Lion dance troupe perform during a reception to celebrate the Lunar New Year, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 26, 2023.
US President Joe Biden watches the Choy Wun Lion dance troupe perform during a reception to celebrate the Lunar New Year, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 26, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.01.2023
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The president claimed that he did consider visiting the sites of the recent gun attacks in California, but was advised to remain at the White House, where he held the celebration.
US President Joe Biden has made a remark some media outlets have deemed "crass", as he was speaking at a Lunar New Year event held at the White House this week.

"It's a time of renewal and reflection, hope and possibilities — for good over evil, for sharing meals, for celebrating firecra- - no firecrackers tonight,” the POTUS said. "No, I'm serious. I was thinking about that, you know. If things hadn’t been like they'd been the last couple years, we should have fireworks outside."

As one US newspaper points out, Biden made this remark less than a week after a deadly shooting at a ballroom in Monterey Park, California. The attack occurred on January 21, when a lone gunman armed with a semi-automatic weapon opened fire on people who gathered to celebrate the coming of the Lunar New Year, killing 11 before taking his own life. The perpetrator and the majority of his victims were of Asian descent.
Mere days after that shooting, on January 23, an employee of a mushroom farm in Half Moon Bay, California shot and killed seven people before he was apprehended by authorities.
President Joe Biden talks about infrastructure during an event at the Kansas City Area Transit Authority Dec. 8, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.01.2023
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The president did refer to both shootings in his speech, saying: "Our prayers are with the people of Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, and after yet another spree of gun violence in America."
He also claimed that he asked Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and former mayor of Monterey Park, whether he should visit the sites of these tragedies or hold the Lunar New Year celebration at the White House.

"And she felt very strongly. She said, 'We have to move forward'," Biden said. "Her message was: Don’t give into fear and sorrow. Don’t do that. Stand in solidarity in the spirit of toughness that this holiday is all about."

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