If you’ve ever wanted to hear from a South Korean boyband sensation as America deals with rising inflation, soaring costs of gas, and a porous southern border, then you’re in luck because the White House is currently hosting the hit band BTS on Tuesday afternoon for a press room appearance and private meeting with President Joe Biden.
On Tuesday morning, CNN’s Jeremy Diamond tweeted, “Buckle up…K-Pop sensation BTS will join @PressSec at the White House press briefing today… They are meeting with Biden today to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes & discrimination.”
Buckle up…K-Pop sensation BTS will join @PressSec at the White House press briefing today
They are meeting with Biden today to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes & discrimination— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) May 31, 2022
The White House press briefing was officially billed as “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Featuring BTS.”
At the start of the briefing, Jean-Pierre introduced BTS, which stands for Beyond the Scene, before handing the mic over to the band.
“Hi, we’re BTS and it is a great honor to be invited to the White House today to discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion, and diversity,” the bandmember known as “RM” said in English before the rest of the crew made remarks in Korean.
Following a few words in English from RM, the rest of BTS thank President Biden in Korean for inviting them to the White House to talk about anti-Asian hate crimes. (2/) pic.twitter.com/rtfj0qv3zk
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 31, 2022
RM then took to the podium again, saying, “And lastly, again, we thank President Biden and the White House for giving us this important opportunity to speak about the important causes and remind ourselves of what we can do as artists. Once again, thank you, very much.”
A translator noted that the one band member said that they “were devastated by the recent surge in hate crimes, including anti-American hate crimes” and were at the White House to help stop that violence. Other band members thanked their fans for their support and encouraged all to embrace each other’s differences.
Once the final two members of BTS shared a few sentences, RM spoke again in English before a Korean translator shared what the six band members who spoke in Korean said.
They then left without taking questions. (3/3) pic.twitter.com/edoPzHHhFn
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 31, 2022
Last Thursday, The Daily Wire reported that the White House announced that BTS would be joining Biden on Tuesday “to address anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination which have become more prominent issues in recent years.”
“President Biden has previously spoken about his commitment to combating the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes and signed into law the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in May 2021 to provide law enforcement with resources to identify, investigate, and report hate crimes and ensure that hate crimes information is more accessible to AA and NHPI communities,” the White House said in a press statement at the time.
On Tuesday, Biden and the entertainment group will also discuss “diversity and inclusion,” as well as “BTS’ platform as youth ambassadors who spread a message of hope and positivity across the world.”
The Daily Wire also noted that BTS made headlines in 2021 when they spoke out about “discrimination” they claimed to have faced as Asians.
“We recall moments when we faced discrimination as Asians,” BTS tweeted in a statement in 2021. “We have endured expletives without reason and were mocked for the way we look. We were even asked why Asians spoke in English.”
“We cannot put into words the pain of becoming the subject of hatred and violence for such a reason,” the statement added. “Our own experiences are inconsequential compared to the events that have occurred over the past few weeks.”
Many in the media have speculated that former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric inspired white supremacists to carry out anti-Asian attacks, as he used terms like the “China virus” to describe COVID-19.
As a presidential candidate, Biden slammed Trump for his rhetoric. “Unfortunately, Donald Trump and his Administration have failed to show almost any moral leadership when it comes to this issue,” Biden wrote in a statement in 2020 addressing anti-Asian hate. “The casual racism and regular xenophobia that we have seen from Trump and this Administration is a national scourge.”
Others, like Wilfred Reilly, a black political science professor and author, have argued that a look at the data shows that anti-Asian attacks were a problem prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and that the attacks are committed by a diverse group of perpetrators.
“Violence against Asian Americans is in fact a diverse and majority-minority affair, with the 2019 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report showing that 27.5 percent of violent criminals targeting an Asian victim are black and only 24.1 percent are white; my own analysis of a set of more than 100 recent high-profile cases reaches similar conclusions,” Reilly wrote in May 2021.
The author also noted that previous media reports in cities like San Francisco and New York indicate that anti-Asian attacks were occurring long before COVID-19.
“What we know is that black, white, and Latino goons all commit crimes against vulnerable populations such as older Asian Americans, and that the solution to this problem is the state harshly taking on crime,” he concluded.
Biden’s meeting with BTS will be closed to the press.