Johnson Blasts Biden Over Alleged Apology

(UnitedVoice.com) – Police have accused an illegal immigrant from Venezuela of murdering 22-year-old Laken Riley. The nursing student was killed while she was jogging on trails around the University of Georgia. The House speaker recently attacked the president over an alleged apology for calling the suspect an “illegal.”

During the March 7 State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden said an “illegal” murdered Riley. He then called on Republicans to pass a bipartisan border security bill that would make it easier to deport asylum seekers whose cases have been denied. The POTUS pointed out that it takes years for migrants to see a judge for the first time, but the border bill would reduce that time to just weeks.

After the speech, Democrats criticized the president for using the term “illegal.” They lashed out, saying it’s an antiquated, derogatory term. During an interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart days later, Biden said, “I shouldn’t have used illegal — it’s undocumented.” Capehart asked if he regretted using the word. He responded, “Yes.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) posted a video of the president’s remarks and said it was an “embarrassment.” He accused Biden of “cowering to his base and showing deference to” a murderer. He went on, saying the POTUS “should be apologizing to Laken’s family.”

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. pic.twitter.com/NhX0sxSbsM

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 10, 2024

Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 nominee for the GOP, responded to Biden’s words during a campaign rally. He claimed the president apologized for calling the killer an “illegal” and said he should apologize “for apologizing to this killer.”

Olivia Dalton, a White House spokesperson, spoke out about the criticism, saying, “[T]he president absolutely did not apologize.” She said there was no apology in his statement to Capehart. Further, the spokesperson accused Republicans of “playing politics” with Laken’s murder after they blocked the border security bill that a bipartisan group of lawmakers negotiated.