House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed President Biden as a “disgrace” for appearing to apologize to Laken Riley's accused killer instead of the slain student's family.
“The president cowers before his base and shows deference to a man who deserves nothing. This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley. President Biden should apologize to Laken's family. What a shame,” Johnson wrote in X on Sunday. , responding to Biden's interview with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart that aired Saturday.
At the urging of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Biden, during an off-script moment in his State of the Union address Thursday, condemned Riley's murder at the hands of “an illegal.” The president later backtracked during his interview with Capehart, saying he should have used the word “undocumented” to describe José Ibarra, a Venezuelan national accused of murdering Riley, an Augusta University nursing student who had went out to compete at the University of Georgia. campus last month.
The White House said Monday that Biden “did not apologize.”
“There was no apology anywhere in that conversation,” Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One. “He didn't apologize. He used a different word.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Ibarra illegally crossed the border near El Paso, Texas, and was released into the U.S. for further processing in September 2022. He was later arrested and released in New York City for allegedly endangering a child about a year later. .
BIDEN FIREFUL FOR CLAIMING 'UNDOCUMENTED' IMMIGRANTS 'BUILD THIS COUNTRY' AFTER SAYING THE SAME ABOUT THE MIDDLE CLASS
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, criticized President Biden, who described Laken Riley's accused killer as an “illegal.” (Getty Images)
The Athens-Clarke County Police Department confirmed that Ibarra and his brother had been cited for shoplifting in Georgia in October 2023, months before Riley's murder.
Ibarra is charged with the felony counts of malice murder, murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another person, as well as the misdemeanor count of physically obstructing a 911 call, according to the statement. sworn presented on February 23. According to charging documents, Ibarra is accused of “disfiguring” Riley's skull.
ICE CONFIRMS THAT A STUDENT SUSPECTED IN MURDER IN GEORGIA ILLEGALLY ENTER US AND WAS PREVIOUSLY ARRESTED IN NEW YORK
“You shouldn't have used illegal, you should have… it's undocumented,” Biden told Capehart. “And look, when I talked about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about at the border was his: the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people contaminating the blood. I talked about what I'm not going to do, what I won't do. I am not going to treat any of these people with disrespect. Look, they built the country.”
Trump supporters hold images of Laken Riley before speaking at a rally in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, 2024. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images)
In particular, former President Donald Trump, the favorite for the Republican Party presidential nomination, harshly criticized Biden's withdrawal at a rally. Blazing Biden for mixing Riley's first name with USC football coach Lincoln RileyTrump said Biden “went on television and apologized for calling Laken's killer an illegal,” prompting boos from the crowd.
Trump, who spoke to Riley's parents backstage at the rally, doubled down on his choice of language.
“They have a new name that's even worse. Do you know what the new name is? Neighbor,” Trump said. “TO newcomer to our country … Are we going crazy or what? Is this country going crazy? How about that one, 'newcomer'…no, he was an illegal? And I say he was an illegal alien. He was an illegal immigrant. He was an illegal migrant. And he should not have been in our country, and he would never have been under Trump's policy.”
Biden addressed Riley's parents during the State of the Union address and also asked, “But how many thousands of people are being murdered by law enforcement?”
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“To your parents I say: My heart goes out to you. Having lost children, I understand,” he said.
