Laken Riley’s mother slams Biden for fumbling murdered nursing student’s name at State of the Union: ‘Pathetic’
The heartbroken mother of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley slammed President Biden for fumbling her daughter’s name during the State of Union speech — calling him “pathetic” for the slip.
“Biden does not even KNOW my child’s name – it [sic] pathetic!” Allyson Philips wrote Friday in response to a comment on a Facebook post celebrating the passage of the Laken Riley Act.
‘If you are going to say her name (even when forced to do so) at least say the right name!” she insisted.
The grieving mother also wrote “Amen!” underneath a comment that called Biden “a disgrace of a president.”
Biden, 81, accidentally referred to the 22-year-old nursing student – who was murdered on the University of Georgia campus two weeks ago – as “Lincoln Riley” during the speech Thursday night.
The president named Riley when pressed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.), who yelled out, “Say her name!” from the audience.
“I know how to say her name,” Biden fired back at the rogue congresswoman.
“Lincoln — Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” he continued, while holding a button given to him earlier by Greene which had Riley’s name written on it.
The suspect arrrested for Riley’s killing, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, is a migrant from Venezuela.
Ibarra and his older brother, Diego, were free in the Athens, Ga., area despite both being linked to the deadly Tren de Aragua gang.
A third brother, Argeinis Ibarra, 24, was also reportedly arrested in the college town the day after Riley was murdered, according to FOX5 Atlanta.
“That’s right, but how many of the thousands of people [are] being killed by illegals?” Biden added, before offering his own message for Riley’s parents.
“To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you. Having lost children myself, I understand,” he noted.
Biden also urged Republicans to sign a bipartisan bill on immigration legislation rejected in February, which he said would “save lives and bring order to the border.”
Follow along with The Post's coverage of Laken Riley's murder
- Laken Riley’s suspected killer, Jose Ibarra, illegally entered US in 2022 — and was cut loose due to lack of detention space: report
- Tributes to slain Ga. nursing student Laken Riley pour in as donations for scholarship in her name top $63K: ‘Would’ve saved so many lives’
- Migrant charged in death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley slipped through law enforcement’s hands twice
- Laken Riley murder suspect Jose Ibarra lived it up in NYC after reportedly entering US illegally, social media posts appear to show
- AP slammed for framing Laken Riley’s murder on dangers ‘female athletes’ face — not on migrant crimes
- Migrant suspect in Laken Riley murder accused of ‘seriously disfiguring’ nursing student as affidavit reveals grim details in case
National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) had previously trashed the measure, saying: “I can’t support a bill that doesn’t secure the border, provides taxpayer funded lawyers to illegal immigrants and gives billions to radical open borders groups. I’m a no.”
The plan was also rejected for proposing to give the authority to shut down the border only when migrant crossings exceed a 5,000-per-day average over a one-week period – a number border experts deem far too high.
The president was not technically correct in referring to Ibarra as an “illegal,” as the suspect was given parole allowing him to be in the country, a policy Biden’s own administration has championed and applied to over a million migrants.
Despite saying in 2023 he would get tough on who was being let into the country, the Biden administration has been repeatedly criticized by politicians such as Texas gov. Greg Abbott for not enforcing the immigration rules already on the books.
They point out how the administration has let millions of people into the US through parole programs, mobile apps and simply because they turn up at the border.
In the 2023 financial year there wer e 2.4 million encounters at the southern border, the highest number ever recorded, and new records for the number of migrants arriving to the US keep getting broken, with 249,785 arrests on the Mexican border in December, according to CBP statistics.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has even himself admitted the country is being overwhelmed by migrants, saying “it certainly is a crisis,” at a press event in February, but then attempting to divert blame to congress.
Riley’s family are aware of the border crisis and its effect. In addition to her written comments, Phillips “loved” a post that referred to Riley’s death as “avoidable” but “the current open borders is making it possible for the flow of criminals to come into our country.”
Riley’s stepmother, Amanda Stasko Holt, also posted a separate comment that called the political posturing “just a bunch of bulls–t.”
“What the point of sending [migrants] out of the country when they’re coming right back in!! How bout we start with something that will actually be helpful, like I don’t know … CLOSE THE BORDERS!” she insisted.
Members of Riley’s family did not immediately return The Post’s request for a comment.
Biden’s vocabulary also drew criticism from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said the commander-in-chief should have used the term “undocumented.”
When questioned about the choice of words on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews Friday, Biden struggled to defend his stance.
“Well, I probably, uhhhh, I don’t re— it, uhhh…technically not supposed to be here,” he said in a Fox News clip shared on X by Benny Johnson.
Riley’s parents turned down an invitation to the State of the Union from GOP Rep. Mike Collins, the congressman said ahead of the address.
“Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime,” Collins wrote on X.
