The White House is pushing back on the notion President Joe Biden issued an apology for calling an alleged killer “illegal.”
On Monday, a reporter asked White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton if the president “feels like he needs to apologize to illegal immigrants for calling them what they are, or using the term illegal?”
“First of all, I want to be really clear about something. The president absolutely did not apologize. There was no apology anywhere in that conversation. He did not apologize. He used a different word,” Dalton responded.
She also noted Biden spoke “passionately about what it means to lose a child.”
Dalton went on to say it is “unconscionable that there are some people who are playing politics with this young woman’s tragic murder.”
Listen to the audio below:
Biden spokeswoman Olivia Dalton now claims Biden didn't actually apologize for calling Laken Riley's illegal alien killer an "illegal."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 11, 2024
FACT: Biden not only apologized, he said illegal aliens "built this country." pic.twitter.com/4GBotgwKjP
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.”
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.”