Politics

(WASHINGTON) — As Democrats have ratcheted up condemnation of “replacement theory” in the wake of Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, some Republicans on Capitol Hill have shied away from rejecting the racist idea that some members of their own party have espoused.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was asked repeatedly about his views of “replacement theory,” a conspiracy theory that holds that Democrats are trying to replace white Americans with undocumented immigrants and people of color in order to win elections.

He repeatedly avoided denouncing it outright.

McConnell was asked whether he, as the party leader, had a responsibility to speak out against the theory, which authorities say was adopted by the 18-year-old white man accused of killing 10 Black people at a local food market.

He responded by denouncing the actions of the suspect, calling him a “deranged young man,” but making no mention of “replacement theory.”

Pressed again by reporters on whether the Republican Party is obligated to denounce the theory, McConnell condemned racism generally.

“Look — racism of any sort is abhorrent in America and ought to be stood up to by everybody, both Republicans, Democrats, all Americans,” McConnell said.

He then was asked whether he believed that Democrats are seeking amnesty for undocumented immigrants for the purpose of influencing and changing the electorate. He responded by criticizing the Biden administration’s policy at the southern border.

McConnell’s comments Tuesday came as the Senate GOP conference hosted Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, who has used language similar to the theory on multiple occasions​​.

Vance secured the GOP nomination during Ohio’s primary race earlier this month after a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who has supported multiple Republicans who echo the theory’s main points, if not its outright racist basis.

In a March 17 appearance on Fox News, according to the news monitoring site Mediaite, Vance told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Democrats are intentionally creating a surge in undocumented immigration.

“You have to ask yourself who is benefiting from this and who is getting rich from it? First of all Chamber of Commerce-style Republicans and Democrats who love the cheap labor who love the fact that these immigrants are displacing America’s workers but also Democrat politicians who have decided that they can’t win reelection in 2022 unless they bring in a large number of new voters to replace the voters that are already here,” he said.

Vance’s campaign declined to comment to ABC News and he did not answer a barrage of reporter questions as he left the Senate GOP luncheon.

McConnell was not the only Republican leader to avoid calls to denounce replacement theory Tuesday.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, House GOP Conference Chair, has faced renewed criticism in recent days for her campaign ads echoing replacement theory. Her campaign released a statement about the attack, and another from her senior adviser calling the focus on the ads a “disgusting low for the left, their Never Trump allies and the sycophant stenographers in the media.”

When pressed by reporters, Stefanik didn’t respond directly, saying she didn’t want to make the Buffalo shooting political.

“Our nation is heartbroken and sad and of the horrific loss of life in Buffalo. This was an act of pure evil and the criminal should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Stefanik said. “It is not the time to politicize this tragedy. We mourn together as a nation.”

Republican reticence to reject replacement theory comes as President Joe Biden traveled to Buffalo on Tuesday and in a speech called on Americans, to “reject the lie” and condemn those “who spread the lie for power, for political gain and for profit.”

Later, speaking to reporters, Biden declined to name names but was blunt when asked if he thinks members of the Republican Party, and cable news pundits like Fox News host Tucker Carlson, deserve blame for violence.

“I believe anybody who echoes a replacement is to blame not for this particular crime, but it’s for no purpose, no purpose, except profit and or political benefit,” Biden said. “And it’s wrong. It’s just simply wrong,”

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has gone further, calling out Fox News and pundits like Carlson by name.

Schumer penned a direct appeal to media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, his son, and the heads of Fox News Tuesday urging them to “to immediately cease all dissemination of false white nationalist, far right conspiracy theories on your network.”

Invoking massacres with racial motivations in Pittsburgh and El Paso, Schumer wrote about his Buffalo constituents, saying that they’ll “be forced to relive this tragic event every single time they visit the supermarket for a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk” —- asking that Fox take into consideration the very real impacts of the dangerous rhetoric…”

Carlson has denied that discussing what he claims is a political matter is racist.

A spokesperson for Fox pointed to a comment Carlson made on his show earlier this week regarding the Buffalo shooting. Carlson, she said, called the shooter “racist” and “immoral” and “called for a de-emphasis of racial tensions and working toward a “colorblind meritocracy” adding “all people have equal moral value, no matter what they look like” and quoted Martin Luther King, Jr.”

She did not directly address Schumer’s letter.

The shooting has revealed a divide in the Republican ranks. While McConnell and Stefanik have fallen short of denouncing “replacement theory,” others have been outspoken on condemning it.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., had no qualms about rejecting the theory outright.

“Oh, it’s … an outrageous theory. I totally reject it as any reasonable discussion to be had.”

Blunt, who is retiring, is from a state where two GOP politicians have openly espoused the racist theory.

On Monday, GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, whose role as GOP conference chair was usurped by Stefanik, called her colleagues out directly in a tweet.

“The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism,” Cheney tweeted. “History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”

“Despite sickening and false reporting, Congresswoman Stefanik has never advocated for any racist position or made a racist statement,” Alex DeGrasse, a senior adviser to Stefanik, said in a statement. “The shooting was an act of evil and the criminal should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.

ABC News’ Ben Siegel, Lalee Ibssa and Trish Turner contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — While much of the focus this midterm cycle has been on statewide races and the momentum behind Republicans amid dismal approval numbers for President Joe Biden, several Democratic House primaries could be emblematic of the direction of the party ahead of November.

In these contentious primary races in North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania, voters will choose between progressive and more moderate candidates. These races have drawn the attention of progressive heavyweights, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

In many cases, moderate candidates have been the beneficiaries of millions of dollars in spending by controversial outside groups like Protect Our Future, a PAC funded by a billionaire cryptocurrency boss Sam Bankman-Fried, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel super PAC.

“Money in politics is nothing new, and you’ve seen outside groups increasingly playing a role in North Carolina and around the country, what feels different this year is just how aggressively they’re investing in primaries,” said Asher Hildebrand, a professor at Duke University and former chief of staff to outgoing Rep. David Price.

Price’s district, North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District is a safely blue area which includes a few of the states large research universities. Primary voters there will likely make the deciding choice about who replaces him.

The leading candidates in the crowded Democratic primary are Clay Aiken of “American Idol” fame, Nida Allam, a local lawmaker and the first Muslim woman to hold elected office in the state who is backed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and Valarie Foushee, a Black state lawmaker widely considered the establishment pick.

Aiken, who previously ran for Congress in 2014, could be the first LGBTQ lawmaker to represent North Carolina if he wins. Political experts in the state consider his chances of coming out on top relatively low despite his high name recognition via his celebrity status.

The aforementioned PACs have poured millions into the race for Foushee, a move some in the state have interpreted as an effort to tamp down on the influence of the party’s progressive wing. If Foushee wins, she could be the first Black lawmaker to represent the area in Congress.

Allam is a Medicare-for-all and Green New Deal-supporting progressive who has the approval of members of the so-called “squad” of progressive Democratic congresswomen of color. Should Allam prevail, it could mark a significant progressive victory this cycle in a battleground state.

“I think what we’re seeing there are actually two candidates that have pretty similar platforms on most of the issues but the contest has really been framed as one of moderates against progressives,” said Sarah Treul a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “You’re gonna have a part of the Democratic Party, the more left leaning side, casting votes for Nida and the more moderate wing of the party no doubt casting votes for Foushee.”

In Oregon’s newly drawn 5th Congressional District, which includes Bend, incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader has the endorsement of President Joe Biden. While progressive candidate Jamie McLeod-Skinner, an attorney who has mounted previous failed bids for Congress and Oregon Secretary of state, has the backing of most Democratic Party leaders within the district as well as Warren.

Schrader is considered one of the most conservative Democrats in the House and has taken heat from progressives on his vote against Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill and Biden’s Build Back Better spending plan.

“We don’t always agree, but when it has mattered most, Kurt has been there for me,” Biden said in a statement announcing his endorsement.

Schrader and his proponents argue that he can win in the district that now gives Republicans a better shot at winning.

“I’ve just got a proven track record of actually winning in a very difficult district,” said Shrader in an interview with ABC News. “This district got a lot more difficult than the previous district.”

But it’s a notion Mcleod-Skinner has pushed back on.

“I’m able to win crossover voters. I got the support even now of not just Democrats, but Republicans and independents. And that’s what’s we’re going to need,” she told ABC News.

Jack Miller, a political science professor at Portland State University, says McCleod-Skinner’s previous runs demonstrate an ability to appeal to Republicans in a district that has become more rural.

“I think that that experience, even though she lost, she got almost 40% of the vote in a supremely strong leaning Republican district. I think it’s the best Democrats have done there in 20 years. That is a great sign,” said Miller. “What’s interesting about her is that she has both that ability to run strong in those rural areas and she is what a lot of progressive Oregonians want.”

Sanders stumped for Summer Lee, a progressive running in Pennsylvania’s 12th district, another safely Democratic district that includes Pittsburgh.

For much of the race, Lee was considered the frontrunner, but a flood of cash from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is boosting her more moderate opponent, Steve Irwin, complicating her prospects. If Lee wins, she could be the first Black woman to represent the area.

Sanders sent a letter Monday to Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison calling for the party to keep super PAC money out of primaries.

“The goal of this billionaire funded effort is to crush the candidacies of a number of progressive women of color who are running for Congress,” Sanders wrote. “I am writing to you today to demand that the Democratic National Committee make it clear that super PAC money is not welcome in Democratic primaries.”

Historically, midterm elections don’t favor the president’s party and overall Democrats are bracing for losses. While the balance of power in Congress likely won’t hinge on the outcomes of these Democrat-on-Democrat races, they could serve as a bellwether for the state of the party in November and as it approaches the presidential cycle in 2024.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Voters were heading to the polls Tuesday for primary elections in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Kentucky, Idaho and Oregon amid a midterm season that will test the endorsement power of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Check back for updates.

May 17, 5:41 pm
Democratic House primaries could foreshadow party’s direction

While much of the focus this midterm cycle has been on statewide races and the momentum behind Republicans amid dismal approval numbers for President Joe Biden, several Democratic House primaries could be emblematic of the direction of the party ahead of November.

In these contentious primary races in North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania, voters will choose between progressive and more moderate candidates. These races have drawn the attention of progressive heavyweights, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Click here to read what you need to know about key Democratic House primary races, which include incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader in Oregon gaining Biden’s endorsement, and in North Carolina, Clay Aiken of “American Idol” fame taking another shot at Congress.

-ABC News Deputy Political Director Averi Harper

May 17, 5:38 pm
Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb says primary will offer ‘lessons’ for Dems

With primary day underway in some of the hottest races of the year, Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate two-term Democrat vying for the U.S. Senate nomination in Pennsylvania, told ABC News’ Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer that results in the state Tuesday could be a key bellwether for the future direction of the party and control of the Senate.

“I think the Democratic Party is going to have to, you know, think really hard about how we’re going to succeed and what is a very, very challenging political environment — and today is going to have some lessons,” Lamb said outside a polling place in his district.

Lamb, who has been trailing progressive Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in recent polls, acknowledged that Democrats face a choice between “two very different paths based on two different sets of experience and two different personalities,” as many in the party view the race as their best shot at flipping a Senate seat.

Asked by ABC News whether he thinks Fetterman’s hospitalization for a stroke will have any impact on the race, Lamb said “I don’t know” and then offered what seemed to be criticism of his rival for “very little information about it [his condition] much like the rest of the general public.”

“I wish him well, but I really can’t forecast that and people are just got to make up their own minds,” he said.

May 17, 5:35 pm
Top Dem candidates face health issues on primary day

Two top Democrats in midterm races in Pennsylvania are facing health issues on primary day, causing them both to miss their election night events. One is isolated with COVID and another was in the hospital Tuesday undergoing surgery after a stroke.

Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary race for governor, announced this morning on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19 Monday night. He said he’s isolated at home with “mild symptoms” and will be back on the campaign trail next week.

Shapiro also shared on Tuesday afternoon that he voted using an emergency absentee ballot, speaking in a video posted from his campaign’s Twitter account.

Meanwhile, the front-runner in the Democratic Senate primary race, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, underwent surgery on Tuesday to get a pacemaker and defibrillator after he suffered a stroke last Friday. As a result, his campaign team said he would not be able to attend his election night rally; instead, his wife, Gisele, will speak in his place.

Earlier on Tuesday, ahead of sharing the news of his surgery, Fetterman’s campaign shared a photo of him voting via an emergency absentee battle in the hospital.

May 17, 5:26 pm
Dr. Oz touts Trump endorsement, says opponent has ‘had her moment in the sun’

In a somewhat last-minute endorsement in April, former President Donald Trump threw his support behind Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary, citing the television doctor’s popularity and compliments regarding Trump’s health.

ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott was the only network reporter with Dr. Oz as he voted this morning in Pennsylvania. On his way out, Oz told Scott he’s confident he will win this evening’s primary. But a last-minute surge by conservative commentator Kathy Barnette has now shaken up the race.

When Scott asked Dr. Oz about her momentum, he said, “I think that Kathy, metaphorically, had her moment in the sun.”

“And I’m very proud of the president’s endorsement. He said I was smart-talking — never let you down, smart enough to understand the issues tough, tough enough to not weather in the face of criticism. When you go to bed at night, you know, I’ll never let you down,” he added.

“I just cast a vote for myself, which is not a humble thing to do,” Oz said. “But it’s what I’m humbly asking all Pennsylvanians to do to vote for someone that they know will win in the general election which is one of the main reasons President Trump endorsed me.”

May 17, 5:23 pm
McCormick speaks about missing out on Trump endorsement

McCormick did not get the coveted endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who threw his weight behind Dr. Mehmet Oz, so McCormick tried to balance complimenting the former president and saying Trump’s endorsement doesn’t have much impact.

“He’s very popular in Pennsylvania with good reason, in my opinion, but in terms of his endorsement — of course, his endorsement matters — but his endorsement to Mehmet Oz hasn’t had much of an impact,” McCormick said. “And the reason for that is much more about Mehmet Oz than it is about the president in that Mehmet doesn’t have a track record.”

McCormick also said the race boils down to two main issues: inflation and authenticity.

Recent polls have shown many Pennsylvania voters were still undecided leading up to primary day.

-ABC News’ Alexa Presha

May 17, 4:44 pm
Here’s what time polls close by state

Here’s what time the polls close in each state Tuesday. All times Eastern.

Kentucky: 7 p.m.
North Carolina: 7:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania: 8 p.m.
Oregon: 11 p.m. (drop boxes close)
Idaho: 11 p.m.

May 17, 4:43 pm
Tuesday’s contents test endorsement power of Biden, Trump

Tuesday’s primaries span five states, the most so far this season, and will test of the strength of endorsements from both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Biden handed out his first endorsement just a few weeks ago to Oregon incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader in a race that was low profile until the president weighed in.

Trump has interjected himself in several primary races so far, including backing Dr. Mehmet Oz for Senate in Pennsylvania and Doug Mastriano for the state’s governor.

The state is one of several battlegrounds across the country where supporters of Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election results, and Mastriano attended the rally preceding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as did Kathy Barnette, a dark horse ultra-conservative GOP Senate candidate.

One question that will be answered Tuesday night is if the Trump endorsement can save tainted candidates. Trump put his neck out for two 26-years-olds in North Carolina: GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn, widely known across the country for his scandals and irreverent attitude, and Bo Hines — running for Congress in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District where he doesn’t live or have wide name recognition.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Officials from the Department of Homeland Security warned that domestic violent extremists have been infiltrating the national abortion debate “to incite violence amongst their supporters,” a senior DHS official told state and local partners on a phone call Monday afternoon, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The DHS official did not specify which side, if any, the extremists were taking.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters in January that domestic violent extremism remains one of “the greatest terrorism related threats” the U.S. faces.

“Over the past year, we in the Department of Homeland Security have improved and strengthened our approach to combating this dynamic, evolving threat,” Mayorkas said.

That official who spoke on the call with local partners warned that as summer approaches — and with the midterm elections in the fall — DHS will continue to be in a “heightened security environment.”

“The leaked Supreme Court opinion on abortion has already triggered an intense political and cultural debate on this topic, and it is very likely it will be an key driver that motivates domestic extremists on different ends of the ideological spectrum to engage in acts of political violence against targets whom they perceive as legitimate,” Javed Ali, a former senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council told ABC News.

Another top DHS official warned on a phone call Sunday that not only will domestic violent extremists attempt to use the abortion debate to incite violence, they will also try to take advantage of the ongoing immigration debate, expected to heat up due to the scheduled lifting on May 23 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public health order under Title 42 and the potential for the influx of migrants along the southern border.

“We do believe that a range of individuals motivated by different ideological grievances will essentially drive an increase in the threat,” one DHS official said, according to a source familiar with the call.

John Cohen, who recently departed as the former acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, told ABC News that domestic violent extremists try to exploit political divisions.

“Domestic violent extremists develop messaging that they promote online, messaging that’s intended to exacerbate the fractures in our society,” Cohen now an ABC News contributor said. “So, they’ll pick issues like abortion, immigration and government COVID activities and elections.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in the state’s Senate race, was scheduled to undergo surgery for a pacemaker and defibrillator on Tuesday after suffering a stroke late last week.

“John Fetterman is about to undergo a standard procedure to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator. It should be a short procedure that will help protect his heart and address the underlying cause of his stroke, atrial fibrillation (A-fib), by regulating his heart rate and rhythm,” his campaign announced in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

A day after Fetterman announced his stroke, his team also said that he would not be attending his election night party and would remain in the hospital. His wife, Gisele, will speak in his place.

Fetterman’s campaign released a photo of him Tuesday morning voting with an emergency absentee ballot from the hospital, where he is recovering.

The lieutenant governor since 2019, Fetterman entered the national spotlight when he launched his campaign for the Senate last February. A progressive, he is vying for the Democratic Party nomination against the more moderate Rep. Conor Lamb and others. The general election there, later this year, could help decide the balance of power in Congress.

Fetterman doesn’t fit the mold for what a typical senator looks like: Standing 6-foot-8, he is bald, goateed and tattooed and frequently eschews traditional suits and ties in favor of shorts and Dickies shirts.

He earned his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University but has campaigned with a blue-collar approach, having served as the mayor of the small borough of Braddock, just outside Pittsburgh, for 16 years before being elected alongside Gov. Tom Wolf, a fellow Democrat, four years ago.

Fetterman previously ran for Senate in 2016, but lost in the primary.

Speaking with ABC News outside a polling place in his district on Tuesday, Lamb said of Fetterman amid his health challenges, “I wish him well.”

Lamb called their race a choice between “two very different paths based on two different sets of experience and two different personalities.”

The three leading candidates to watch in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary race are Fetterman and Lamb as well as state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Devin Dwyer and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — An athletic icon and business success, Herschel Walker has the type of background that Republicans hope will propel him to the U.S. Senate, where his presence could very well tip the balance of power in the deeply divided chamber.

But Walker’s political ambitions have also revived scrutiny of another side of his record: allegations of domestic violence, physical threats and stalking. Walker has denied some of those accusations. Others he claims not to remember – a byproduct of his diagnosis with dissociative identity disorder, or D.I.D., a complex mental health condition characterized by some severe and potentially debilitating symptoms.

Recruited and endorsed by former President Donald Trump, his longtime friend and mentor, Walker is expected to win next week’s Republican primary by a substantial margin. Some Republicans fear, however, that if Walker earns the GOP nomination, these claims could catch up with him come November – when he would likely face formidable Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock – particularly if he fails to adequately answer for them now.

“[Walker] will have a better shot to win the general [election] if he addresses those issues that are out there from his past,” Georgia’s Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who has not endorsed any candidate in the primary, told ABC News’ “Nightline.” “If he doesn’t, then I think it’s going to be a tough day in Georgia when we get to the November election, and we’re going to send, unfortunately, another Democrat to represent us as a U.S. senator.”

Walker has insisted that he has made a full recovery and taken responsibility for any past transgressions, and in response to questions from ABC News, his campaign referred to his 2008 memoir, “Breaking Free,” in which he revealed his diagnosis, and a 2008 interview with ABC News’ Bob Woodruff, in which he discussed its effects on his marriage.

Watch “Nightline” on ABC on Tuesday night for a special report on Herschel Walker.

“This is an obvious political hit job [eight] days before an election orchestrated by Herschel’s primary opponents who are failing to get any sort of traction. Voters will see through it. Herschel addressed these issues in detail with Bob Woodruff 14 years ago — he even wrote a book about it,” Mallory Blount, a spokesperson for the Walker campaign, told ABC News. “The same reporters who praised him for his courage are now trashing him because he is a Republican. It is shameful and is why good people don’t run for office.”

But in his book, Walker does not address several claims about his behavior – some of which are documented in police records. Walker did not write, for example, about allegations that he once held a gun to his ex-wife’s head. Nor does he address a claim made in 2002 that he stalked a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. After the book was published, a woman claiming to have had a long-term relationship with Walker accused him of stalking and threatening her as well.

His critics have contended that he has yet to address the full scope of troubling allegations. Walker did not participate in any of the primary debates, and his opponents, most notably Georgia Agricultural Commissioner Gary Black, have demanded an explanation in his absence.

“Georgia deserves to know the details,” Black told ABC News’ “Nightline.” “There’s a pattern of deflect, defer, run, hide, twist. It’s unacceptable for service in the United States Senate. In my opinion, I think most Georgians are going to agree.”

A stunning interview

Walker ended a decorated football career in 1997, with a Heisman Trophy and more than a decade in the NFL to show for it. In Georgia, where he attended high school and college, he is an icon – widely considered one of the greatest college football players to ever hail from the state.

In 1984, the New Jersey Generals and its bombastic owner, Donald Trump, selected Walker with the first pick of the upstart USFL draft. It was the beginning of one of Walker’s most consequential relationships. In the ensuing decades, Walker has appeared as a contestant on the Trump-hosted reality television show, “Celebrity Apprentice,” and later served as co-chair of President Trump’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. Walker has also credited Trump with helping him navigate a lucrative post-football career in the poultry industry and other business enterprises.

But shortly after retiring from the game, according to his memoir, “Breaking Free,” Walker’s mental health and 16-year marriage deteriorated. He discussed the book in a 2008 interview with “Nightline,” telling ABC News that many of his struggles stemmed from dissociative identity disorder.

The once fearsome running back claimed that his psyche had fractured into as many as 12 alternate personalities, or “alters,” and he admitted to experiencing both violent urges and significant gaps in memory.

“It’s just personalities that can do different things for you,” Walker told Woodruff in 2008. “I told somebody once, you don’t want the Herschel that played football, you don’t want the Herschel that do business babysitting your child. You want a different person. When I’m competing, I’m a totally different person.”

In his memoir, Walker described one incident, from 2001, in which he became “so angry” with someone who arrived late to deliver him a car that Walker became consumed with “the visceral enjoyment I’d get from seeing the small entry wound and the spray of brain tissue and blood — like a Fourth of July firework — exploding behind him.”

“With murder in his heart and mind,” Walker wrote, he got behind the wheel of his Mercedes – where he kept a Beretta pistol in the glove compartment – to find the delivery man. But he soon spotted a “SMILE. JESUS LOVES YOU” bumper sticker, he wrote, and returned home.

But it was Walker’s ex-wife, Cindy Grossman, who offered the most harrowing glimpse into Walker’s post-football life, telling ABC News that Walker once threatened her with a weapon.

“He got a gun, and he put it to my temple,” Grossman told Woodruff in 2008.

“Put the gun right to your temple,” Woodruff replied, “and what did he say?”

“I’m gonna blow your effin’ brains out,” Grossman said.

Walker told ABC News at the time that he had no recollection of the incident described by Grossman. He did not deny it, acknowledging that he “probably did it,” but asserted that the gaps in his memory, a hallmark symptom of D.I.D., left him unable to address it.

“Do you not remember something like that because you think that was another alter,” Woodruff asked Walker in 2008, “or do you want to get out of having to talk about it?”

“No, no, no, no,” Walker insisted. “I’m talking about everything else. If I can remember it, I’ll talk about it.”

For Grossman, however, the chilling experience remained clear in her mind.

“[Walker] says he doesn’t remember a lot of these details,” Woodruff told Grossman in 2008.

“He may not,” Grossman replied. “But I certainly do.”

Some observers have suggested that Walker’s diagnosis provides a convenient mechanism for deflecting responsibility.

“It’s an excellent excuse to use if you’ve pointed a gun at somebody,” retired Atlanta Journal-Constitution politics editor Jim Galloway recently told The Washington Post. “‘That wasn’t me; it was somebody else.’”

Walker and Grossman divorced in 2002, and Grossman sought and was granted a restraining order against Walker in 2005. Court records related to those proceedings contain additional allegations that Walker made other threats of violence toward Grossman and her then-boyfriend.

Walker denied the allegations when he was interviewed by police in 2005, and the police report notes that he “was very calm but surprised about [the statements]” and suggested that someone was “making allegations about him to help with future child custody issues.” Walker’s campaign did not respond to questions about the incident.

Grossman did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. Walker’s allies have pointed to the fact that she has participated in several interviews in support of Walker’s condition as evidence that the couple remains on friendly terms.

But police reports obtained by ABC News and others have since shown that Grossman is not the only woman to have made allegations of threatening behavior against Walker.

In 2002, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader told police that she believed Walker was lurking outside her home, and that a year earlier, Walker had “made threats to her” and was “having her house watched.” The former cheerleader declined to comment for this story. She told police in 2002 that she did not want officers to pursue Walker for fear of “[making] the problem worse.”

In 2012, Myka Dean, who claimed to have had an on-again, off-again relationship with the former football star for nearly two decades, told police that Walker “lost it” after she tried to break up with him, and she said he threatened to “sit outside her apartment and blow her head off when she came outside.” Dean died in 2019, but in a statement provided to ABC News from the Walker campaign, Dean’s mother said the family was never aware of her daughter’s allegations, and they are “very proud of the man Herschel Walker has become. We love him, pray for him, and wish we lived in Georgia so we could vote him into the United States Senate.” Dean’s mother and stepfather also served on the board of Walker’s company, Renaissance Man, Inc.

Walker, who has never been charged with a crime, has denied both claims, telling Axios in December 2021 that “people can’t just make up and add on and say other things that’s not the truth. They want me to address things that they made up.”

A complex condition

Dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is a rare mental illness that Walker had said he has struggled with since childhood: “I just didn’t know what it was,” Walker told ABC News in 2008.

Walker was initially diagnosed and primarily treated by Dr. Jerry Mungadze, a Bedford, Texas-based licensed professional counselor with a Ph.D. in counselor education. Mungadze penned the forward to Walker’s memoir, in which Walker described him as “one of my best friends and probably the most essential,” as he has become central to Walker’s recovery narrative.

But Mungadze’s embrace of controversial or unproven psychological theories and treatments over the years have since raised questions about the treatment Walker may have received. In 2008, Walker wrote that Mungadze “played an important role in my healing process,” which featured both out-patient treatment at a hospital in Southern California and a protocol apparently developed by Mungadze himself.

“Dr. Jerry described his procedures and proposed treatment for the part of me I had never truly understood,” Walker wrote. “He said his treatment would focus on the whole person rather than the separate parts of personalities I created. He assured me it was possible to achieve emotional stability based upon the approach and methods he had developed.”

Mungadze did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and Walker’s campaign did not respond to questions about the nature and extent of the candidate’s treatment.

Walker told Axios in December 2021 that he held himself “accountable” for his behavior toward Grossman, and said he has since experienced something close to a full recovery from the disorder that previously led him down that violent path.

“[I’m] better now than 99% of the people in America,” he said. “Just like I broke my leg; I put the cast on. It healed.”

But according to one expert, recovery from D.I.D. is not as straightforward as Walker seems to suggest, and it often requires long-term treatment to manage symptoms that can cause “impairment on work and social function.”

Dr. J. Douglas Bremner, a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory University who specializes in the treatment of severe trauma-related conditions, cautioned that he could not speak definitively about Walker’s condition because he had not personally treated him, but he said the goal for most patients would “be more management of symptoms and, in some cases, it can be eventual integration of personalities.”

“In my experience, that kind of recovery is not something that is typical,” Bremner said of Walker’s assertion that he had completely healed. “The treatment is long term, so there’s no quick fixes.”

Walker’s campaign did not respond to questions about the current status of his recovery or whether he still receives treatment to manage the condition, leaving voters to parse Walker’s past statements.

“A lot of people may have this problem, but they’re too ashamed or they’re too scared to come out and say something,” Walker told ABC News in 2008. “I said I’m not ashamed, because guys, I’m human. I’m not nobody special. I’m just Herschel.”

Georgia Republicans will soon decide whether that’s enough for them.

ABC News’ Kate Holland and Jake Lefferman contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Top Pentagon officials told a House panel on Tuesday that there are now close to 400 reports from military personnel of possible encounters with UFOs — a significant increase from the 144 tracked in a major report released last year by the U.S. intelligence community.

A Navy official also said at Tuesday’s hearing that investigators are “reasonably confident” the floating pyramid-shaped objects captured on one leaked, widely seen military video were likely drones.

That footage, which the military confirmed last year was authentic, had helped spur interest in purported UFOs, also referred to as “unidentified aerial phenomena” or UAPs.

Indiana Rep. André Carson, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee, called Tuesday’s hearing, the first in more than 50 years focused on the aerial incidents.

UAPs, Carson said, “are a potential national security threat and they need to be treated that way.”

“For too long the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis,” he added. “Pilots avoided reporting or were laughed at when they did.”

The number of UAP reports has risen to “approximately 400,” a significant increase from the 144 between 2004 and 2021 that were tracked in last year’s report, according to Scott Bray, the deputy director of Naval Intelligence. Bray told the House panel that the spike was due to a reduction in the stigma associated with stepping forward to report such incidents in the wake of the 2021 report.

“We’ve seen an increasing number of unauthorized and or unidentified aircraft or objects and military control training areas and training ranges and other designated airspace,” Bray said. “Reports of sightings are frequent and continuous.”

But Bray believes many of the newly disclosed accounts are actually “historic reports that are narrative-based” from prior incidents that people are only now coming forward with, which leads him to believe there will be fewer new accounts in the future.

Last year’s intelligence report could only explain one of the documented 144 encounters and did not contain the words “alien” or “extraterrestrial.” The report stated then that the UAP incidents would require further study.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Bray echoed last year’s conclusion that most of the phenomena were likely physical objects and noted that “the UAP task force doesn’t have any wreckage that … isn’t consistent with being a terrestrial origin.”

Even so, Bray said, questions remain.

“I can’t point to something that definitively was not man-made, but I can point to a number of examples which remain unresolved,” Bray said, citing video of a 2004 incident in which a Navy pilot recorded an unusual, Tic Tac-like object over the water.

“We want to know what’s out there as much as you want to know what’s out there,” said Ronald Moultrie, the Pentagon’s top intelligence official, who also testified at the hearing.

Moultrie said the Pentagon is establishing an office to speed up “the identification of previously unknown or unidentified airborne objects in a methodical, logical and standardized manner.”

“We also understand that there has been a cultural stigma surrounding UAP,” Moultrie said. “Our goal is to eliminate the stigma by fully incorporating our operators and mission personnel into a standardized data gathering process.”

“Our goal is to strike that delicate balance: one that enables us to maintain the public’s trust while preserving those capabilities that are vital to the support of our service personnel,” he said.

Bray said “Navy and Air Force crews now have step-by-step procedures for reporting on a UAP on their kneeboard in the cockpit” and that these efforts have led to more reporting.

The increasingly mainstream interest in UFOs and UAPs has been sparked in recent years by leaks of once-classified videos and the Navy’s release of footage from their pilots’ own encounters.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the defense officials played three clips to help explain how brief the aerial incidents could be, making it very difficult to determine what was seen in the videos.

In one of the more notable cases, the officials detailed how “considerable effort” went into determining a theory for what was observed.

Bray played footage taken in July 2019 off the California coast from the deck of the destroyer USS Russell that seemed to show several pyramid-shaped objects hovering above the ship.

Bray acknowledged that investigators did not initially have an explanation for what was seen in the green night scope video — until they were able to contrast it with a more recent video of an incident that occurred off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

Officials who looked at that video found a similar pyramid shape. They concluded the phenomena were likely from drones that had been seen on sensors from another Navy asset.

“We’re now reasonably confident that these triangles correlate to unmanned aerial systems in the area,” Bray explained. “The triangular appearance is a result of light passing through the night vision goggles and then being recorded by an SLR camera.”

“This is a great example of how it takes considerable effort to understand what we’re seeing in the examples that we are able to collect,” he added.

Ahead of the hearing, Jeremy Corbell, a documentary filmmaker and UFO enthusiast who made public that “pyramid” video last year, said he was happy to see increasing awareness and government action.

“What is so great is that this is a direct response to public will,” Corbell told ABC News. “It is direct response to public pressure. It is representative government representing the citizens and their interest.”

“I am encouraged by the public desire to know and find out the truth of what UFOs represent to humankind,” Corbell said then. “It’s the biggest story of our time. And finally we’re beginning to have the conversation without ridicule and stigma that has so injured the search for scientific truth on this topic.”

Moultrie, the Pentagon official, said at Tuesday’s hearing that he wasn’t immune to a bit of the zeal himself as a science fiction fan.

“I have gone to conventions — I’ll say it on the record. Got to break the ice somehow,” he told the panel in one lighthearted line of questioning, adding, “We have our we have our inquisitiveness. We have our questions.”

ABC News’ Matthew Seyler contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department special counsel investigating the origins of the probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election is facing his first major test in federal court this week, with the start of a criminal trial against a Democrat-linked lawyer charged with lying to the FBI.

Prosecutors are seeking to convince a jury that lawyer Michael Sussmann lied in bringing forth a tip to a senior FBI official in September 2016 about potential connections between then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s company and a Russian bank, by allegedly telling the official that he was not working on behalf of any client at the time.

According to John Durham, who has been investigating the Russia probe for more than three years and was appointed special counsel by former Attorney General William Barr just before Barr’s resignation in 2020, Sussmann was in fact bringing the info to then-FBI general counsel James Baker as part of Sussmann’s work for Hillary Clinton’s political campaign and a technology company executive who had worked to assemble the data.

This “led the FBI General Counsel to understand that Sussmann was acting as a good citizen merely passing along information, not as a paid advocate or political operative,” Durham’s indictment alleges.

“Many people have strong feelings about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, but we are not here because these involve allegations involved either,” Durham prosecutor Deborah Shaw said in opening arguments Tuesday. “We are here because the FBI is our institution. It should not be used as a political tool for anyone.”

The alleged lie by Sussmann had an impact on how the FBI ultimately investigated the allegations, Durham has claimed, which involved data showing a potential communications channel between computer servers for the Trump Organization and the Russian-owned Alfa Bank. The FBI eventually determined the data did not show anything nefarious.

A key piece of evidence Durham’s team has said supports their case was revealed only last month. Prosecutors will point the jury to a text message that Sussmann allegedly sent to Baker the night before they met in which Sussmann wrote, “I’m coming on my own — not on behalf of a client or company — want to help the Bureau.”

While the charge against Sussmann is narrow, through their 27-page indictment and hundreds of pages of court filings in the months since Sussmann was indicted, Durham’s prosecutors have sought to allege a broader potential conspiracy regarding efforts by Clinton’s campaign and other political operatives to spread unverified allegations about possible ties between Trump, his campaign and the Russian government.

“No one should be so privileged to have the ability to walk into the FBI and lie for political ends,” Shaw said Tuesday, adding “whether we hate Donald Trump or like him,” all have to agree lying to FBI is illegal.

Sussmann’s attorneys have disputed he told Baker at the meeting that he was not bringing the information forward on behalf of a specific client, and have argued that there’s no evidence such a statement had a measurable impact on how FBI agents eventually investigated the allegations.

In opening statements Tuesday, Sussmann’s attorney Michael Bosworth said while Sussmann was representing Clinton’s campaign “generally” in the fall of 2016 — and that representation included work on the Alfa Bank data that was brought to him by tech executive Rodney Joffe — his meeting with the FBI was not part of his work for the Clinton campaign.

On the contrary, according to Bosworth, Sussmann sought the meeting to give the bureau a heads up on a story the New York Times was working on about the Alfa Bank data at the time, so it wouldn’t be caught “flat-footed.”

While Durham’s team argues Sussmann was hoping the meeting would later result in an “October surprise” news story about the FBI opening an investigation on potential ties between Trump and Russia — Bosworth said that as a result of the meeting, the FBI was actually able to persuade the Times not to run the story.

In other words, according to Bosworth, Sussmann’s meeting generated the “opposite” result of what the Clinton campaign would have wanted at the time.

Sussmann’s attorneys have previously accused Durham’s prosecutors of trying to promote a “baseless narrative that the Clinton Campaign conspired with others to trick the federal government into investigating ties between President Trump and Russia,” and have successfully sought to limit some of the evidence that Durham’s team had hoped to present in the two-week trial.

Last week, the judge overseeing Sussmann’s case, Christopher Cooper, issued an order that will prevent Durham’s team from bringing forward evidence alleging what they have described as a “joint venture” between Sussmann, representatives for Clinton’s campaign and the technology executive Rodney Joffe to collect and spread opposition research about Trump.

In his ruling, Cooper said he would not oversee “a time-consuming and largely unnecessary mini-trial to determine the existence and scope of an uncharged conspiracy to develop and disseminate the Alfa Bank data.”

The witness lists for both Durham’s prosecutors and Sussmann’s team are extensive, and include an array of current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials, former Clinton campaign operatives and a former New York Times reporter who was in touch with Sussmann around the time he met with the FBI.

In the three years since Durham was initially assigned to look into the origins of the Russia investigation, he has secured only one guilty plea of a former lawyer with the FBI who admitted to doctoring an email that was used to support a surveillance application that targeted a former Trump campaign aide.

Durham’s only other indictment outside of Sussmann was against Igor Danchenko, a lead analyst who contributed to the now-infamous Steele Dossier, who was charged last year with five counts of lying to the FBI about who his sources were for claims in the dossier. Danchenko has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

While he has conducted his investigation largely out of public view the past three years, Durham has notably opted to attend the first days of Sussmann’s trial in person.

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(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Assuming his role as consoler in chief, President Joe Biden traveled to Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday to visit a community in mourning and call out the dangers of white supremacy on the national stage following Saturday’s racially-motivated mass shooting at a supermarket that left 10 Black people dead, three wounded and others fearing for their lives.

Biden wanted to meet with victims’ families to “try to bring some comfort to the community, particularly to those who lost loved ones” and “grieve with them,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

BREAKING: Pres. Biden addresses community of Buffalo.

“Jill and I bring you this message from deep in our nation’s soul: In America, evil will not win, I promise you. Hate will not prevail. And white supremacy will not have the last word.”https://t.co/EiAF227UVl pic.twitter.com/dw2AkgqtCn

— ABC News (@ABC) May 17, 2022

He and first lady Jill Biden visited the Tops market memorial to pay their respects on Tuesday morning, laying flowers. They then met behind closed doors with the families of victims and first responders at a community center. During an afternoon address, Biden called on Americans to reject white supremacy, calling it a “poison” that’s “running through our body politic.”

“What happened here is simple, straightforward,” Biden said. “Terrorism. Domestic terrorism. Violence inflicted in the service of hate. And the vicious thirst for power that defines one group of people as being inherently inferior to any other group,” he said.

Alluding to the “great replacement theory” conspiracy, an idea espoused by the alleged shooter and echoed in language used by some Republicans and media figures, Biden called on Americans to “reject the lie” and condemned those “who spread the lie for power, for political gain and for profit.”

“We need to say as clearly enforced as we can, that the ideology of white supremacy has no place in America,” Biden said. “Silence is complicity, is complicity. We cannot remain silent.”

The president also named each victim in the attack and their ages, giving details of their everyday lives before they were suddenly gunned down.

“I know tragedy will come again. It cannot be forever overcome. It cannot be fully understood either. But there are certain things we can do,” Biden added.

The president called on Congress to pass legislation to “keep assault weapons off our street” and to do more to “prevent people from being radicalized to violence,” such as addressing what he called “the relentless exploitation of the Internet to recruit and mobilize terrorism.”

“We just need to have the courage to do that, to stand up over the American experiment in which democracy is in danger — like it hasn’t been in my lifetime,” he said. “The American experiment in democracy is in danger at this hour. Hate and fear are being given too much oxygen by those who pretend to love America.”

Biden has said in the past that he was compelled to run for office, in part, because of how former President Donald Trump responded to white nationalists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was the first president to directly address white supremacy in his inaugural speech, calling it “domestic terrorism that we must confront” and released the first-ever national strategy to counter domestic terrorism.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Ruth Whitfield, an 86-year-old who was among those killed Saturday, had called on the Biden administration to label the shooting an act of domestic terrorism, which the president did Tuesday.

“We can’t sugarcoat it, we can’t try to explain it away talking about mental illness,” Crump said in a press conference with the victims’ families on Monday. “This was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by a young white supremacist.”

Biden’s first in-person comments on the shooting came while speaking at an event on Sunday to honor law enforcement officers killed on duty, where he described the accused gunman as “armed with weapons of war and a hate-filled soul.” He also said that he has been receiving updates from his team at the White House, which remains in close contact with the Department of Justice, while it investigates the shooting as both a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.

“As they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America,” Biden said. “Our hearts are heavy once again, but the resolve must never, ever waver.”

During a previously scheduled Medal of Valor ceremony at the White House on Monday, Biden also paid tribute to retired Buffalo Police Department officer Aaron Salter, the security guard at the Tops Friendly Market who was killed after engaging the shooter and “gave his life trying to save others,” Biden said.

“He actually was able to shoot the assailant twice, but he [the assailant] had a bulletproof vest, and he [Slater] lost his life in the process,” Biden added.

On a somber Monday afternoon, Jean-Pierre — taking over for former White House press secretary Jen Psaki — began her first briefing by reading out the names of each victim of the shooting and giving a little description of who they were.

Asked who or what may have influenced the shooter, Jean-Pierre opted, at first, to speak about the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, which saw one counterprotester dead, saying Biden “is determined as he was back then, and he is determined today, to make sure that we fight back against those forces of hate and evil and violence.”

When pressed again by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega about elected officials who have expressed views echoing those espoused by the alleged gunman, such as Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Jean-Pierre said the administration would call out those who “spew this type of hate” — but refused to name anyone — and gave few details about what the White House can do to prevent these kinds of views from becoming more widespread.

“What we’re going to continue to do anyone, any one person, right, doesn’t matter who they are, who spews this type of hate, hatred, we’re going to, we’re going to call out we’re going to condemn that,” she said. “I’m not going to speak or call out any individual names. I’m saying that this is something that we need to call out. And so this is what the president has been doing and will continue to do that.”

“I’m not going to get into a back and forth on names and who said what,” Jean-Pierre added. “We’re just saying, if someone does that, if there’s an individual that is espousing hate, xenophobia, you know, has, you know, has just white supremacy type of extremism, we need to call that out. And this president has done that.”

With renewed calls for gun control from the public, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told ABC’s This Week Sunday that Democrats in Congress is “of course trying to do something about gun violence” but noted that efforts to address mass shootings on Capitol Hill have fallen short not in the House but in the Senate, where Republicans have opposed gun control measures, making it impossible for Democrats to advance legislation over the 60-vote threshold in the chamber.

A document obtained by ABC News Monday appears to show how the alleged shooter, Payton Gendron, 18, carefully planned out his attack at least two months before he was arrested at the supermarket on Saturday and charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Armando Garcia contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Assuming his role as consoler in chief, President Joe Biden traveled to Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday to visit a community in mourning following Saturday’s racially-motivated mass shooting at a supermarket that left 10 Black people dead, three wounded and countless others fearing for their lives.

Biden was meeting with victims’s families to “try to bring some comfort to the community, particularly to those who lost loved ones” and “grieve with them,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

“The president wants to go to a community he wants to grieve with them and he wants to send a message to the entire country, that we stand behind them and with them, and that is so important,” she said.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the Tops market memorial to pay their respects on Tuesday morning, laying flowers. They then met behind closed doors with the families of victims and first responders at a community center. During a later speech, the president will call on Congress to take action to “keep weapons of war off our streets” and ask Americans to “reject racial animus that radicalize” and lead to violence.

Biden has said in the past that he was compelled to run for office, in part, because of how former President Donald Trump responded to white nationalists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was the first president to directly address white supremacy in his inaugural speech, calling it “domestic terrorism that we must confront” and released the first-ever national strategy to counter domestic terrorism — but advocates say it’s not enough.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Ruth Whitfield, an 86-year-old who was among those killed Saturday, called on the Biden administration to label the shooting an act of domestic terrorism.

“We can’t sugarcoat it, we can’t try to explain it away talking about mental illness,” Crump said in a press conference with the victims’ families on Monday. “This was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by a young white supremacist.”

Biden’s first in-person comments on the shooting came while speaking at an event on Sunday to honor law enforcement officers killed on duty, where he described the accused gunman as “armed with weapons of war and a hate-filled soul.” He also said that he has been receiving updates from his team at the White House, which remains in close contact with the Department of Justice, while it investigates the shooting as both a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.

“As they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America,” Biden said. “Our hearts are heavy once again, but the resolve must never, ever waver.”

During a previously scheduled Medal of Valor ceremony at the White House on Monday, Biden also paid tribute to retired Buffalo Police Department officer Aaron Salter, the security guard at the Tops Friendly Market who was killed after engaging the shooter and “gave his life trying to save others,” Biden said.

“He actually was able to shoot the assailant twice, but he [the assailant] had a bulletproof vest, and he [Slater] lost his life in the process,” Biden added.

On a somber Monday afternoon, Jean-Pierre — taking over for former White House press secretary Jen Psaki — began her first briefing by reading out the names of each victim of the shooting and giving a little description of who they were.

Asked who or what may have influenced the shooter, Jean-Pierre opted, at first, to speak about the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, which saw one counterprotester dead, saying Biden “is determined as he was back then, and he is determined today, to make sure that we fight back against those forces of hate and evil and violence.”

When pressed again by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega about elected officials who have expressed views echoing those espoused by the alleged gunman, such as Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Jean-Pierre said the administration would call out those who “spew this type of hate” — but refused to name anyone — and gave few details about what the White House can do to prevent these kinds of views from becoming more widespread.

“What we’re going to continue to do anyone, any one person, right, doesn’t matter who they are, who spews this type of hate, hatred, we’re going to, we’re going to call out we’re going to condemn that,” she said. “I’m not going to speak or call out any individual names. I’m saying that this is something that we need to call out. And so this is what the president has been doing and will continue to do that.”

“I’m not going to get into a back and forth on names and who said what,” Jean-Pierre added. “We’re just saying, if someone does that, if there’s an individual that is espousing hate, xenophobia, you know, has, you know, has just white supremacy type of extremism, we need to call that out. And this president has done that.”

With renewed calls for gun control from the public, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told ABC’s This Week Sunday that Democrats in Congress is “of course trying to do something about gun violence” but noted that efforts to address mass shootings on Capitol Hill have fallen short not in the House but in the Senate, where Republicans have opposed gun control measures, making it impossible for Democrats to advance legislation over the 60-vote threshold in the chamber.

A document obtained by ABC News Monday appears to show how the alleged shooter, Payton Gendron, 18, carefully planned out his attack at least two months before he was arrested at the supermarket on Saturday and charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Armando Garcia contributed to this report.

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