Opinion
Marjorie Taylor Greene twice pressured President Biden during the State of the Union address to say the name of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student who was tragically murdered allegedly by an illegal immigrant while doing jogging on campus.
It worked. A type of. If only she knew his name.
The first incident took place during the time-honored tradition in which the President enters the chamber and is greeted by members of Congress as he heads to deliver the State of the Union address.
In a direct face-to-face confrontation, Greene (R-GA) handed Biden a pin with Laken Riley’s name and face and asked, “Laken Riley. Say her name.”
The suspect in Riley’s murder, Jose Ibarra, is an illegal immigrant who was arrested in 2022 for illegally crossing the border near El Paso, Texas. The details of the case are gruesome.
Republicans say his case is an example of the failure of the president’s open-border policies.
Marjorie Taylor Greene directly confronts Joe Biden: “Laken Riley. Say his name.” pic.twitter.com/fVonGCuCxm
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 8, 2024
RELATED: Illegal alien arrested for killing Laken Riley accused of ‘seriously disfiguring’ his skull
Greene faces Biden again DURING the State of the Union
Biden gave a rather controversial State of the Union address, filled with partisan attacks against his political opponents, a notable breach of decorum for such an event.
Many of his comments drew protests from Republican lawmakers who disapproved of his remarks. When the president spoke about the border crisis, Greene shouted again, “Say his name.”
And he did it. Well, at least him tried TO.
“Lincoln, Lincoln Riley,” Biden said, holding up the pin Greene had handed him earlier. “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal immigrant.”
Biden going off script must have left his handlers baffled. And he promptly made matters worse by downplaying Riley’s murder and suggesting that more and more Americans are being killed by “legals.”
“Lincoln” Riley?
It’s just scary. pic.twitter.com/6QNdYKhN5e
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) March 8, 2024
Related Article: Trump calls today “National Day of Remembrance” for Americans who were murdered by illegal immigrants
Extraordinary moment
President Biden being forced to say the name of a woman killed by an illegal immigrant during his State of the Union address is an extraordinary moment. Especially for a man who led the most lawless administration in the history of this nation.
His own Department of Homeland Security warned against using the term “illegal alien” in 2021. And several Democrats were outraged that he used that word. More outraged, it seems, than they were at the killing of Laken Riley himself.
There has been some debate as to whether or not President Biden meant to say “illegal” or “legal” regarding his subsequent statement about Riley.
Former Fox News producer Kyle Becker says the comment was terrible no matter how you look at it.
“If Biden meant LEGALS, Joe didn’t just possess himself by proving he didn’t even know the girl’s name, he downplayed her death for political reasons by equating it to a murder by a legal migrant,” Becker wrote on X.
“If he meant ILLEGAL, then he is condemning his own disastrous border policies.”
In addressing the murder of Laken Riley, President Biden did as he often does. He compared his murder of her to the death of his son Beau.
“To his parents I say that my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand,” he said.
Critics suggest that Beau Biden’s death, while certainly tragic and heartbreaking, does not compare to losing a child to a highly preventable homicide.
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