House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and other Republicans on Sunday criticized President Biden for retracting remarks he made in his State of the Union address and calling a man accused of murder an “unlawful act.” pursued.
The man accused of killing Georgia college student Laken Riley, a Venezuelan immigrant who was not allowed to stay in the United States, has become a political lightning rod for conservatives.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson: “The president is cowering in his camp and showing respect to someone who has no value.” I wrote to X, formerly Twitter. “This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley. President Biden should apologize to Laken’s family. What a shame.”
Biden recanted his “illegal” remarks in an MSNBC interview on Saturday.
“He’s an illegal alien. He shouldn’t have used something illegal, it’s undocumented,” Biden told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. “And, look, when I talked about the differences between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about at the border was the way he talked about pests, the way he talked about people contaminating blood. I talked about things I wouldn’t do. Things I wouldn’t do.”
“I don’t mean any disrespect to any of these people. Look, they built the country. They’re the reason our economy is growing. We have to manage an orderly flow, and I completely disagree with his views,” Biden continued.
“So do you regret using that word?” Capehart asked.
Mr. Biden replied, “Yes.”
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R.S.C.) also went after Biden on Sunday.
Scott called Biden’s apology “disgusting” in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “No one can explain that. Talk about disgusting.”
“Joe Biden is more concerned about using the word illegal or undocumented. The word he should be using is murderer,” Scott continued. “Here our President Donald Trump is sitting with Laken Riley’s family. And Joe Biden is apologizing for the words he used.”
The use of the term “illegal” has drawn criticism from some Democrats, who consider the term pejorative and representative of harsher immigration policies they do not support.
“Just as we shouldn’t implement Republican policies, we shouldn’t repeat Republican rhetoric,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).
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