- Trump told MSNBC ‘I shouldn’t have used illegally, it’s undocumented’
- Donald Trump said he was ‘sorry’ and should apologize for the apology
- The White House said Monday that Biden ‘absolutely did not apologize’
<!–
<!–
<!– <!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
The White House insisted President Biden “did not apologize” for using the term “unlawful” to describe the alleged killer of Laken Riley, as backlash from a tense exchange in his State of the Union address last week continues.
As the White House put it, Biden “used a different word” when he tried to clear up the comment in an interview on MSNBC.
“I shouldn’t have used illegally, it’s undocumented,” Biden said during a taped interview with the network in Atlanta on Saturday.
It came on a day Trump ripped Biden for what his predecessor called an ‘apology’ after Trump met with family and friends of the slain 22-year-old nursing student whose alleged killer is a migrant from Venezuela – raising the bar even further .
En route to an event in New Hampshire on Monday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton was told that Biden “apologized” and was asked why he felt he had to do so.
No apology: The White House said President Biden ‘didn’t apologize’ when he said he ‘shouldn’t have used’ the word ‘illegal’ to describe a migrant who is Laken Riley’s alleged killer
‘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 didn’t apologize. He used a different word, she said.
Dalton said Biden spoke ‘passionately about knowing what it means to lose a child and extended his deep sorrow and condolences to Lake and Riley’s family in front of the entire country, on the House floor. And beyond that, I think it is unconscionable that there are some people who are playing politics with this young woman’s tragic murder.’
She referred to comments in which Biden said his heart went out to Riley’s parents after Marjorie Taylor Green wore a shirt that said “Say her name” and gave him a pin encouraging him to do so.
Biden misspelled Riley’s name in his fiery ad-libbed response, mistakenly calling her ‘Lincoln.’ Then he used a term verboten on the left when used as a noun referring to people who jump across the border without legal documents.
“Lincoln, Lincoln Riley,” Biden said, holding up a pin Greene had given him and calling him to say her name. ‘An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.
On Friday, President Biden was asked if he regretted calling the accused killer of Laken Riley an ‘illegal’ and changing his language. “Well, I probably don’t regret — technically shouldn’t be here,” Biden said.
“Biden should apologize for apologizing to this murderer,” former President Donald Trump said at a rally in Georgia, where he appeared alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R)
Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia was killed while jogging on February 22
President Joe Biden, holding up a pin by Laken Riley, referred to her as an ‘innocent young woman killed by an illegal’. Progressive Democrats condemned his use of the term
Venezuelan immigrant Jose Antonio Ibarra has been charged with Riley’s murder. Biden took heat for calling him ‘illegal’
‘But how many out of thousands of people are killed by lawyers? To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand, Biden said.
That comment drew rebukes from several progressive Democrats, who said calling someone ‘illegal’ was dehumanizing.
Biden’s first attempt to backtrack came on Friday, when he told reporters: ‘Well, I probably don’t technically regret being here.’
Trump took up the issue during his rally in Georgia on Saturday,
“Joe Biden went on TV and apologized for calling Laken’s killer illegal,” he said as MAGA supporters cheered and booed. ‘Biden should apologize for apologizing to this murderer.’
“Joe Biden has no remorse, he has no regret, he has no empathy, no compassion, and worst of all, he has no intention of stopping the deadly invasion that stole precious Laken’s beautiful American lives,” Trump said.