Progressive Democrats pounced after President Joe Biden called the alleged killer of Laken Riley an ‘illegal’ while ad-libbing a remark in his State of the Union speech.
The awkward intra-party clash came during one of the most intense moments of Biden’s fiery address, when he sparred with a heckling Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after she demanded he say the name of the murdered nursing student allegedly killed by a Venezuelan immigrant.
Biden botched Riley’s name in his response, mistakenly calling her ‘Lincoln.’ But he also used a term verboten on the left when used as a noun referring to people who jump the border without legal documents.
‘Lincoln, Lincoln Riley,’ said Biden while holding up a pin Greene had handed him calling on him to say her name. ‘An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.
‘But how many of thousands of people being killed by legals? To her parents I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand,’ Biden retorted.
President Joe Biden, holding up a pin of Laken Riley, referred to her as an ‘innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal’. Progressive Democrats condemned his use of the term
‘No human being is illegal,’ wrote Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), one of several lawmakers to blast Biden’s word choice on Twitter afterward.
‘Let me be clear: No human being is illegal,’ wrote ‘squad’ member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who immigrated from Somalia.
‘I’m extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the word ‘illegal,’ wrote Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) calling himself a ‘proud immigrant.’
‘There was a lot of good in President Biden’s speech tonight, but his rhetoric about immigrants was incendiary and wrong,’ wrote Rep. Joaquin Catro (D-Texas) in a trio of tweets. ‘My guest for this year’s State of the Union was the widow of a North Texas rancher who was murdered by a neighbor who didn’t want Latinos living next door. Across Texas, many families can tell similar stories of hate and harassment inspired by the rhetoric of Donald Trump.
‘The rhetoric President Biden used tonight was dangerously close to language from Donald Trump that puts a target on the backs of Latinos everywhere. Democrats shouldn’t be taking our cues from MAGA extremism.’
Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student was killed while out jogging on February 22
Venezuelan immigrant, Jose Antonio Ibarra, has been charged with Riley’s murder. Biden took heat for calling him ‘illegal’
During an interview with CNN ‘s Dana Bash, Nancy Pelosi said, ‘Now he should have said undocumented’
‘Squad’ member Rep. Representative Ilhan Omar is among those who condemned the remark. She also protested Biden during the speech over Israel’s war in Gaza
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) hold up signs as President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address
‘The rhetoric President Biden used tonight was dangerously close to language from Donald Trump that puts a target on the backs of Latinos everywhere,’ said Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas)
The moment came in a speech where Biden blasted Republicans for blowing up a Senate compromise deal that would surge resources to the border while sending billions to aid Ukraine
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was prepared to give Biden a pass on the language when she got asked about it on CNN not long after the speech.
‘Now he should have said undocumented, but that’s not a big thing, ok? What’s the big thing?’ she told interviewer Dana Bash, after she tried to ask a question about the moment but hadn’t even mentioned the verbiage. She said Biden ‘should have said ‘undocumented.’
“Well, we usually say “undocumented.” He said “illegal.” I don’t think it’s a big deal,’ Pelosi continued. ‘I don’t think it’s a big deal because I think his focus was on the sympathy for the family. It’s a terrible tragedy.’
Elected Democrats more typically use the term ‘undocumented’ rather than calling the migrants ‘illegals.’
Biden campaign cochair Mitch Landrieu was still cleaning up the comment during a Friday morning appearance on CNN when asked about Castro’s pointed criticism.
‘That’s probably true. He probably should have used a different word, I think he would know that,’ he told CNN. ‘But what you should notice of that is not that he made a small mistake. The big thing that he did right, and this is what this president always does, is express empathy to people.
The tension from within his own caucus comes as Americans identify illegal immigration as a top issue, and Biden has pivoted in some of his rhetoric while getting behind a derailed border compromise that would have capped daily asylum entrants and surged more resources to the border.