House Speaker Mike Johnson called it “disgraceful” that President Biden appeared to be apologizing to Laken Riley’s killer rather than the slain student’s family.
“The president is cowering in his own camp and honoring a man who is worth nothing. This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley. President Biden should apologize to Laken’s family. What a shame. ,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in X on Sunday. he said in Biden’s interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart that aired Saturday.
In an off-script moment during Thursday’s State of the Union address, Biden blamed “unlawful actors” for Riley’s killing, at the urging of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. The president later recanted in an interview with Capehart, instead using “documented information” to describe José Ibarra, a Venezuelan national charged with the murder of Riley, an Augusta University nursing student who was on the run at the University of Georgia. He said he should have used the words “not done”. Campus last month.
The White House said Monday that Biden “made no apology.”
“There was no apology anywhere in that conversation,” Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One. “He didn’t apologize. He used different words.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Ybarra crossed the border illegally near El Paso, Texas, and was released to the U.S. for further processing in September 2022. He was then arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and released about a year later in New York City. .
Biden comes under fire for claiming “illegal” immigrants “built this country” with middle-class remarks
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) criticized President Biden for backing away from Laken Riley’s alleged killer, calling him “illegal.” (Getty Images)
The Athens-Clarke County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Ybarra and his brother were arrested on shoplifting charges in Georgia in October 2023, months before Riley was killed.
According to an affidavit filed on February 23, Ybarra is charged with malice murder, murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, aggravated assault, concealing the death of another, and physically interfering with a 911 call. He has been charged with a misdemeanor. According to the indictment, Ybarra is accused of “traumatizing” Riley’s skull.
ICE confirms Georgia student murder suspect entered the country illegally and was previously arrested in New York
“I shouldn’t have used illegal means, I should have… It’s not documented,” Biden told Capehart. “And look, when I talked about the differences between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about at the border was his — the way he talks about pests, the way he talks about pests. people who pollute blood. We talked about what not to do and what not to do. I don’t mean to treat any of these people with disrespect. You see, they built the country. ”
Trump supporters hold up images of Laken Riley before speaking at a rally in Rome, Georgia on March 9, 2024. (Ilya Nouberge/AFP via Getty Images)
It is noteworthy that former President Donald Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, strongly criticized Biden’s withdrawal at a rally.Biden slams Biden for confusing first name with Riley USC Head Football Coach Lincoln RileyPresident Trump said that Biden “apologized for going on TV and calling Laken’s killer a lawbreaker,” to boos from the crowd.
Speaking with Riley’s parents backstage at the rally, Trump was even more selective about his choice of words.
“They gave it a new name that’s even worse. Do you know what the new name is? Neighbor,” Trump said. “a newcomer to our country …Are we going crazy? Is this country going crazy? How about that, “new guy”… no, he was an illegal. And he says he was an illegal immigrant. He was an illegal immigrant. He was an illegal immigrant. And he should not be in our country and never would have been under Trump policies. ”
“But how many thousands of people are being killed by the courts?” Biden asked, referring to Riley’s parents in his State of the Union address.
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“To her parents, I say this: My heart goes out to them. I have lost a child myself, so I understand,” he said.
