Donald Trump has blamed “border secretary” Kamala Harris for the brutal murder of 22-year-old Georgia college student Laken Riley, who was allegedly killed by an immigrant who crossed the border illegally.
“Laken’s blood is on Kamala Harris’ hands,” the 78-year-old former president declared at a rally at the Georgia State University Conference Center in Atlanta on Saturday. Harris, 59, had slammed Trump during a campaign rally just days earlier.
“Kamala Harris embraced the barbaric monster who killed Laken Riley,” Trump blasted.
“Kamala is taking responsibility for the deaths as if she had witnessed them herself,” he added.
Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, was attacked and killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus on February 22.
Her blunted body was found in a wooded area near Lake Herrick, and authorities determined her cause of death was blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
The killer, 26-year-old Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra, entered the United States illegally through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 but was released about a day after being detained.
He is said to have ties to the Venezuelan gang El Tren de Aragua. Ibarra has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges related to the murder.
“Kamala Harris should not be asking for your vote. She should be asking for forgiveness from Laken Riley’s family,” he said to cheers.
During his 90-minute speech, Trump also “congratulated” Russian President Vladimir Putin for striking “another great deal” in the latest prisoner swap with the United States, in which Wall Street journalist Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and 14 others were released from a Russian prison on Thursday.
“They released some of the most heinous killers in the world,” Trump said of those whom President Biden, 81, and other Western leaders handed over to Russia to secure their release.
“It’s nice to say we’ve got them back, but I think it sets a bad precedent,” he warned.
Trump also weighed in on the controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Kherif, who was previously disqualified from the international women’s boxing tournament but was allowed to compete in the Olympics by the IOC and won a medal on Saturday.
Trump was referring to the match in which Italy’s Angela Carini withdrew after just 46 seconds, calling Khelif, who was born biologically female, a “he.”
“[Carini] “She got hit so hard she didn’t know what was happening. He was a good male boxer and she didn’t even go down. He hit her with two jabs and she said, ‘I’m out,'” he said.
Trump has repeatedly promised to remove men from women’s sports if elected.
