Biden, in Iowa speech, plans to say Trump has ‘fanned the flames of white supremacy’

Former vice president Joe Biden plans Wednesday to accuse President Trump of having “fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation” in a blistering speech set to be delivered in Iowa as Trump visits two cities mourning horrific mass shootings.

Another Democratic hopeful, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) also plans to speak out about combatting racism during a speech at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., the site of a mass shooting in 2015 that left nine people dead.

According to excerpts of Biden’s planned remarks released by his presidential campaign, he will highlight Saturday’s shooting in El Paso by a gunman who allegedly posted an essay with language that closely mirrors Trump’s rhetoric, as well as the language of the white nationalist movement, including a warning about the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

“How far is it from Trump’s saying this ‘is an invasion’ to the shooter in El Paso declaring his attack is a response to ‘the Hispanic invasion of Texas?’ Not far at all,” Biden plans to say in the speech. He will also refer to the deadly clash between white supremacists and protesters in Charlottesville and the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, according to the excerpts.

“In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation,” Biden plans to say.

Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, plans to deliver his speech in Burlington, Iowa, on a day when Trump is scheduled to appear in both El Paso, where 22 people died in Saturday’s rampage, and in Dayton, Ohio, where nine people were killed early Sunday.