A White House official disputed Monday that President Biden apologized for using the phrase “illegal” to describe an undocumented migrant during his State of the Union address, despite Biden’s statement that he had “regret” for his comments.
According to immigration officials, the guy suspected of killing university student Laken Riley in Georgia is a Venezuelan migrant who was not legally present in the United States. The incident has become a political flashpoint for conservatives.
“I want to be really clear about something,” White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton said Monday. “The president did not apologize. There was no apology anywhere throughout the talk. He didn’t apologize.” He used a different word.”
Dalton’s comments draw a distinction between an apology and the president’s show of regret, which came after some Democrats denounced the use of the term as derogatory. A Biden campaign official stated that using the word was a “small mistake.”
On Sunday, several Republicans criticized the president for expressing sorrow, seeing it as an apology and suggesting it demonstrated his weakness in border security policy.
“The president is cowering to his base and showing deference to a man who deserves none,” remarked Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on X, the platform that was previously known as Twitter. “This man, an illegal immigrant, ruthlessly murdered Laken Riley. President Biden should be apologizing to Laken’s family. What an embarrassment!
Riley’s death has become the center of the political conversation on border security, as Republicans pin the crime on Biden’s policy while the White House continues to push the GOP to pass a bipartisan border security deal.
