House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is blasting President Joe Biden for expressing regret for using the phrase “illegal.”
During an interview with MSNBC, Biden was asked about a moment during his State of the Union address when he talked about the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, and his decision to call her alleged killer “illegal.”
“I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” the president said.
He went on, “And look, when I spoke about the difference about Trump and me, one of the things I talked about on the border was the way he talks about vermin, about these people polluting the blood. I told you what I’m not going to do, what I won’t do, I’m not going to treat any of these people with disrespect.”
“Look, they built the country… We have to control the border — a more orderly flow. But I don’t share his view at all,” Biden added.
When asked if he regrets using the term, Biden said, “Yes.”
Johnson shared the video on X, and criticized the president, writing, “The president is cowering to his base and showing deference to a man who deserves none. This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley. “
“President Biden should be apologizing to Laken’s family. What an embarrassment,” he added.
The president is cowering to his base and showing deference to a man who deserves none.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 10, 2024
This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley.
President Biden should be apologizing to Laken’s family.
What an embarrassment. pic.twitter.com/NhX0sxSbsM
During his State of the Union address, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shouted, “Laken Riley… say her name!”
Biden picked up a pin in honor of Riley but then mispronounced her name, saying, “Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.”
“That’s right… but how many thousands of people are being killed by illegals?” he asked.
Biden added, “To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you having lost children myself, I understand.”
His comment referred to the murder of Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who allegedly killed by 26-year-old Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.