Biden had recently commented that rising anti-Asian violence was “wrong” and “un-American”, but appearing on Last Week Tonight on Sunday (21 March), comedian Oliver took issue with this phrasing.
Oliver continued: “Not only are attacks against Asians very much American, so is denying that they’re racist.
Six of the victims of the three shootings, which police believe to be linked, were Asian-American women, along with one white man and one white woman.
“Because it’s a place where racism is ‘not who we are’ and racist attacks against Asians are somehow ‘un-American’ despite the fact – and far be it for me to explain this to someone who seems like he’s lived through most of American history – anti-Asian racism has long been a fact of American life.”