Pelosi ripped for saying Biden should have called Laken Riley’s alleged killer ‘undocumented’ — not ‘illegal’
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been slammed for insisting that President Biden “should have said undocumented” when he referred to Laken Riley’s alleged killer as an “illegal” at his State of the Union address.
The California Democrat made the eyebrow-raising remark during an interview on CNN after the president’s fiery speech — and was one of several Democratic lawmakers who criticized the word choice Biden, 81, used to describe the immigration status of Riley’s purported murderer.
“Madam speaker, one of the clearly ad-libbed moments was during the section about immigration,” CNN anchor Dana Bash said before playing a clip of Biden’s remarks.
The president referred to the slain 22-year-old nursing student as “Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” botching her first name and making it sound like he was referring to the USC football coach of the same name.
“Now he should have said undocumented, but that’s not a big thing, OK? What’s the big thing?” Pelosi said in response.
Bash said she wasn’t going to ask about the term “illegal,” which is considered politically incorrect by progressive lawmakers, but rather about the crime.
“Well, we usually say ‘undocumented.’ He said ‘illegal.’ I don’t think it’s a big deal. 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,” Pelosi said, harping on the matter.
“It’s a terrible situation that anybody losing a child or a family member. It’s a terrible situation, but I think he handled it well,” she added.
Jose Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan immigrant who illegally crossed the southern border into El Paso, Texas, has been charged with Riley’s murder. The nursing student’s heartbroken parents turned down an invite to attend Biden’s address.
Social media users quickly ripped Pelosi for focusing on the language Biden used rather that the alleged shocking crime.
“Nancy Pelosi checks Joe Biden for referring to Laken Riley’s kiIIer as an illegal,” one disgusted viewer said on X.
“Yeah, because that’s what’s important here. These people are vile,” he continued.
“Nancy Pelosi is more concerned that Joe Biden called the criminal alien that murdered Laken Riley an ‘illegal’ than she is about Laken Riley’s death,” another seethed.
“She is a MONSTER!!!!” a third wrote.
Pelosi’s concerns with Biden’s off-the-cuff remark were echoed Friday by the Biden re-election campaign’s national co-chair, Mitch Landrieu.
“He probably should’ve used a different word and I think he would know that. But what you should notice about that is not that he made a small mistake,” Landrieu told CNN. “The big thing that he didn’t write, and this is what this president always does, is express empathy to people, he expressed kindness to people. He understands because, as you know, he lost a number of children in his life.”
The complaints Pelosi and Landrieu had with Biden’s use of the word “illegal,” however, were subdued when contrasted with the responses from other Democratic lawmakers.
“Let me be clear: No human being is illegal,” far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) tweeted.
“As a proud immigrant, I’m extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the word ‘illegal,’” Rep. Chuy García (D-Ill.) similarly wrote on X.
One Democrat even went so far as to accuse Biden of coming “dangerously close” to sounding like former President Donald Trump.
Progressive Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) charged that Biden’s word choice was “incendiary and wrong.”
“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,” Castro wrote on X. “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,” the Texas Democrat added. “Democrats shouldn’t be taking our cues from MAGA extremism.”
Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) also argued on CNN that Republican lawmakers tried to “bait” the president into going off-script, and while his use of the word “illegal” was “unfortunate,” she doesn’t believe Biden actually feels that way about migrants who cross the border between ports of entry.
“Look, it was clear being in the chamber last night, that there were those in the extreme Republican Party who were trying to bait the president into responding to whatever heckle they were offering,” Butler said.
“It’s unfortunate that the President used that language,” she added. “I don’t believe that is the language that he believes in his heart about immigrant people who find their way to this country to make a better life for themselves.”
Biden struggled to find the right words when asked by a reporter Friday if he had any regret about saying “illegal.”
“Well, I probably – I don’t regret – technically he’s not supposed to be here,” the president responded.
Hours before Biden’s speech, the House passed a bill dubbed the Laken Riley Act, which would require the detention by federal authorities of any migrant charged with committing burglary or theft.
