The White House on Monday pushed back against claims that President Biden apologized for using the word “illegal” to describe the immigrant defendant accused of killing Laken Riley. This comes just days after President Biden said he “regrets” his use of the word.
Mr. Biden, 81, had faced huge backlash from Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, for using the word “illegal” in his State of the Union address when discussing the alleged murder of a 22-year-old nursing student.
The president then appeared to backtrack in an interview broadcast on MSNBC on Sunday, saying he “regrets” using the word “illegal” instead of the more neutral “undocumented.”
But White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton attempted to explain Monday, telling reporters that despite expressing regret, “the president never apologized.”
“There was no apology anywhere in that conversation,” Dalton told reporters on Air Force One. “He didn’t apologize. He used different words. I think that’s a fact that we should really clarify.”
“You know, in addition to the fact that the president hasn’t apologized, I want to make one more thing clear: He spoke directly about this in his State of the Union address four days ago, and he was passionate about knowing. “He spoke about what it means to lose a child and expressed his deepest sorrow and condolences to the family of Laken Riley in front of the entire nation on the floor of the House of Representatives,” the White House spokesperson added. He was referring to Biden’s heated unscripted SOTU moment after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s speech. -Ga.) prompted him to talk about Riley.
Mr Dalton also said it was “unconscionable” that “some people” were “politicizing the tragic murder of this young woman”. She also accused House Republicans of “getting in the way of a bipartisan border security agreement” due to pressure from Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
Biden called on House Republicans to pass bipartisan legislation that would give him more authority to deal with border issues. But the bill has been criticized by some Republicans for giving the president extra powers and for being tied to funding for Ukraine and Israel.
Republicans, including Trump, have sharply criticized Biden for twice misspelling Riley’s name as “Lincoln” during his State of the Union address.
“I know how to say her name,” Biden shouted from the crowd and held up a Laken Riley pin given to him by a delegate, before Biden began his exchange with Greene.
“Lincoln — Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman murdered by an illegal alien,” Biden continued.
On Monday, Biden spoke again about illegal immigration in New Hampshire on the campaign trail, saying, “We need an orderly process at the border.”
“They’re not pests, they’re not scum, they’re not just criminals coming here…” Biden trailed off, and the audience at the N.H. headquarters applauded him.
Trump has repeatedly accused Biden of misspelling Biden’s name and said he “regrets” the president’s comments that were “illegal” (a term considered politically incorrect by many on the left). “I apologize,” he claimed.
The former president met with Riley’s family before a rally in Rome, Georgia.
