President Biden’s trip to Atlanta on Friday, originally planned as part of his Covid-19 stimulus promotional tour, will take on a different tone after shootings in the region this week left eight dead, including six women of Asian descent.

Mr. Biden intended to celebrate the $1.9 trillion package, which passed two months after a pair of victories in Georgia runoffs gave Democrats control of the Senate. He now plans to meet with Asian-American leaders in a state that has become a focal point in a national conversation about violence against Asian-Americans, as well as a partisan battleground over voter access.

Press secretary Jen Psaki said Mr. Biden will “offer his support for the AAPI community in Georgia and across the country and talk about his commitment to combating xenophobia, intolerance and hate.” Mr. Biden has ordered flags at federal buildings flown at half-staff in honor of the victims. He will also receive a briefing on Covid-19 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The motive for the shootings hasn’t been determined, but the ethnicity of many of the victims prompted an outpouring by many Asian-Americans. Reports of hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans have increased in some U.S. cities since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, which first emerged in China.

Mr. Biden tweeted Wednesday: “We don’t yet know the motive, but what we do know is that the Asian-American community is feeling enormous pain tonight. The recent attacks against the community are un-American. They must stop.”