President Joe Biden has apologized for accurately using the term “illegal” during Thursday night’s State of the Union address during a tense exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over the murder of Laken Riley – whose name Biden mispronounced before uttering the verboten word that clearly upset the left.
During the SOTU, Greene taunted Biden to say Riley’s name – adding that she was killed “by an illegal.”
“Lincoln. Lincoln Riley,” Biden responded, mispronouncing Laken’s name. “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” Biden continued.
This sent the left into histrionics, with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) firing the first shot – scolding Biden during an appearance on CNN.
Nancy Pelosi just criticized Biden for using the term “illegal” when describing Laken Riley’s killer instead of “undocumented”
You can’t make this up pic.twitter.com/6DGzEc7VZw
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) March 8, 2024
Biden was then confronted outside of Air Force One over the comment, for which he reframed his words as as “Technically, not supposed to be here.”
Even Joe Biden knows that Democrats have lost the plot on illegal immigration and is not walking back his statement, while former Speaker Pelosi & his campaign advisors are still worried about hurting their feelings with semantics.
Biden sees the polls.pic.twitter.com/qCJQ3xoRIT https://t.co/iQofUwtLd9
— ALX ?? (@alx) March 9, 2024
And so, Biden’s handlers (or whoever) thought it would be a great idea to make the elderly sitting President apologize on national television – yet didn’t think it important enough to apologize to Laken Riley’s family for mispronouncing her name, or causing the border crisis that may have been directly responsible for her death.
“I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” Biden told MSNBC‘s Jonathan Capehart in Atlanta.
NEW: President Biden tells @CapehartJ that he regrets using the word “illegal” during his State of the Union speech to refer to the alleged killer of Laken Riley.
“I shouldn’t have used ‘illegal.’ It’s undocumented.”
Tune in at 6pm ET on MSNBC for the full interview. pic.twitter.com/EX7XuyhF1N
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 9, 2024
In response to Biden’s apology for offending illegals, former President Trump has called on Biden to apologize to Riley’s family for mispronouncing her name, as opposed to “apologizing for the word he used” to describe her killer.
President Trump on Laken Riley’s Killer:
“I say he is an illegal alien, he is an illegal immigrant, he is an illegal migrant, and he should have never been in our country, and he wouldn’t have been under the Trump policies.” pic.twitter.com/vQsoNmFNq6
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) March 9, 2024
Trump also hosted Riley’s family at a Saturday rally, where he blamed Biden for her death.
BREAKING: Trump with Laken Riley’s family and friends backstage at his rally. pic.twitter.com/htxsmgbnWg
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) March 10, 2024
“He should be apologizing to the family as opposed to apologizing for the word that he used which is an accurate description,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, calling Biden’s response “tone deaf” and a “pivotal moment” that highlights the candidates’ “two very distinct differences in approach on the border invasion.”
“There’s a clear difference,” said LaCivita. “One is sympathetic, coddling, and making excuses. And one wants to put a stop, put an end to it.”
Biden was roundly chastised on X;
He apologizes to Laken Riley’s murderer https://t.co/oZNFhou9FG
— Banana Republic Justice Swan ? (@TheWuhanClan) March 9, 2024
Liberals aren’t upset she was murdered, they’re upset he offended the murderer
Once you understand this, their fried mental model falls into place https://t.co/IgiGk85bF5
— Jack Poso ?? (@JackPosobiec) March 9, 2024
It was fine to disrespect the deceased? Laken Riley’s life was tragically taken by a multiple offender illegal who was let into the country by the Biden administration. https://t.co/g6acorRvkp
— JamieRJN (@JamieRJN) March 9, 2024
Expressing regret for accurately describing the Venezuelan illegal alien charged with bashing in Laken Riley’s skull as an “illegal” is a remarkable moment.
The one and only time Biden mentions her name – he botches it – and now he hopes to avoid offending her alleged killer.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 9, 2024
And it wasn’t lost on the Daily Wire‘s Matt Walsh that Biden falsely claimed that illegal immigrants built America.
The far more outrageous portion of this clip is where he claims that illegal aliens “built the country.” That’s not remotely close to true. Illegals comes here to leech off of what has already been built. https://t.co/l8OOsTuQyJ
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 9, 2024
Meanwhile, Biden’s back to slurring…
Biden is slurring hard tonight ? pic.twitter.com/pMsJKHZVyR
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 9, 2024