White House Says Biden Did Not Apologize After Calling Accused Laken Riley Murderer An ‘Illegal’

The White House said on Monday that President Joe Biden did not apologize when he said during an interview on MSNBC that he should not have referred to the suspect in the murder of 22-year-old college student Laken Riley as an “illegal.”

Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton said that there was no apology during Biden’s interview with Jonathan Capehart where he said that he regretted using the term “illegal” to refer to Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who is accused of murdering Riley while she was jogging on the campus of the University of Georgia. Dalton said that people were “playing politics” with Riley’s murder. 

“I want to be really clear about something: The president absolutely did not apologize. There was no apology anywhere in that conversation,” Dalton said en route to New Hampshire, according to The Daily Mail.

Dalton said that Biden was speaking “passionately about knowing what it means to lose a child and extended his deep grief and condolences to Laken Riley’s family in front of the entire country, in the House chamber. And beyond that, I think it’s unconscionable that there are some people who are playing politics with this young woman’s tragic murder.”

The comments come after Biden was pressured by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) during his State of the Union address to talk about Riley. Prior to his arrest for murder, Ibarra was apprehended after illegally crossing into Texas in September 2022 before being released into the country.  

Biden faced backlash after his speech from some Democrats after he referred to Ibarra as an “illegal.” Democrats like Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) who said the president should not be using “Republican rhetoric.” 

On Sunday, Biden told Capeheart that he regretted using the term “illegal,” saying he should have said “undocumented.”

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“And look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about at the border was his, the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood,” he continued. “And I talked about what I’m not going to do, what I won’t do, I’m not gonna treat any, any, any of these people with disrespect. Look, they built the country. The reason our economy is growing. We have to control the border and more orderly flow, but I don’t share his view at all.”

Biden was widely criticized for the comments from conservatives including former President Donald Trump who criticized the president during a rally in Georgia on Saturday.