WASHINGTON — Goaded by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, President Joe Biden invoked the name of Laken Riley and noted that an immigrant had killed the student, during a brief unscripted exchange at his State of the Union address.
The back-and-forth occurred toward the end of Biden’s speech as he touched on immigration. Biden noted that former President Donald Trump had reportedly encouraged fellow Republicans to block a bipartisan border security measure, which the president characterized as a mistake fueled by politics.
“It’s not about him or me,” Biden said.
Greene shouted back, “It’s about Laken Riley.” That was a reference to the 22-year-old nursing student killed on the University of Georgia’s campus two weeks ago. The man charged with murder last month in Riley’s death, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, is a Venezuelan who authorities say entered the country illegally in 2022.
Biden responded by holding up a button that House Republicans had distributed earlier in the evening, one bearing Riley’s name, and sharing her story. As Greene shouted out she was killed by “an illegal,” Biden appeared to say the same thing.
She was “an innocent woman who was killed by an illegal, that’s right,” the president said. “... To her parents I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself.”
Biden appeared to call her Laken initially but then mispronounced her first name as “Lincoln.”
The exchange was brief, only a few seconds of crosstalk, and Biden pivoted back to his prepared remarks. But it instantly became one of the most viral and polarizing moments of a speech where the president otherwise stuck to his well-crafted script.
Greene, R-Rome, and other House Republicans had made Riley’s death a main talking point leading up to Biden’s primetime speech.
Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP
Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP
Earlier in the day, Republicans and 37 Democrats signed off on a bill named after Riley that would require federal immigration agents to lock up people in the country illegally who have been accused of theft or shoplifting.
Greene and other GOP lawmakers also passed out buttons to colleagues with Riley’s picture and the phrase “say her name.” They attempted to hand those same buttons to Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as they ended the House chamber ahead of the speech, but were ignored.
Greene wore a white T-shirt to the speech that said, “Say her name, Laken Riley.” Greene also wore a Make America Great Again red cap.
Riley’s parents declined an invitation from Rep. Mike Collins, who represents Athens, to attend the State of the Union as his guest. They have not spoken publicly since her death.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was updated to remove an unclear quote from President Joe Biden.
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