Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was criticized for claiming that President Biden “should have said he was undocumented” when he called Laken Riley’s murder suspect “illegal” in his State of the Union address. .
The California Democrat made the eyebrow-raising remarks in a CNN interview after the president’s impassioned speech.
“Mr. Chairman, one of the moments that was clearly ad-libbed was the part about immigration,” CNN anchor Dana Bash said before playing a clip of Biden’s remarks.
The president misrepresented the murdered 22-year-old nursing student’s first name, calling her “Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman killed by an illegal alien.”
“Now he should have said something undocumented, but it doesn’t matter, okay? What’s the point?” Pelosi responded.
Bash said he would not be asking questions about the word “illegal,” which progressive lawmakers consider politically incorrect, but rather about crimes.
“Well, we usually say ‘undocumented.’ He said, “It’s illegal.” He doesn’t think it’s a big deal. I think his focus was sympathy for his family, so I don’t think that’s a big deal. This is a terrible tragedy,” Pelosi said as she weighed in on the issue.
“Losing a child or a family member is a terrible situation for anyone. It’s a terrible situation, but I think he handled it well,” she added.
Jose Ibarra, 26, an illegal Venezuelan immigrant who crossed the southern border into El Paso, Texas, was charged with Riley’s murder. Heartbroken parents of a nursing student declined an invitation to attend Biden’s speech.
Social media users were quick to criticize Pelosi for focusing on the words Biden used rather than the shocking crime allegations.
“Nancy Pelosi is checking to see if Joe Biden referred to Laken Riley’s president as a crook,” said one disgusted viewer. said in X.
“Yeah, here’s the thing: These people are despicable,” he continued.
“Nancy Pelosi is more concerned about Joe Biden calling the criminal alien who killed Laken Riley an ‘illegal’ than he is about Laken Riley’s death.” another boiled.
“She’s a monster!!!!!” 3rd person wrote.
Hours before Biden’s speech, the House of Representatives passed a bill called the Laken Riley Act, which would require the detention of immigrants who commit robbery or theft.
