Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech erupted into chaos last night after House Republicans tore into him over the alleged murder of a student by an illegal immigrant.
The President was trying to stir up support for a bipartisan border security bill when Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia and long-time Biden critic, shouted: “It’s about Laken Riley” – the student in question.
Democrat representatives responded in full voice, clamouring for Taylor Greene to “shut up” before the joint session turned into a shouting match.
Taylor Greene was wearing a shirt with Riley’s name written on it, while other Republicans sported badges of the same thing – one of which Biden picked up as he tried to quell the chaos.
Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed Biden for his handling of illegal immigration on the US-Mexico border
Reuters
But as he began his remarks, he made another gaffe, referring to the dead student as “Lincoln Riley”, prompting further uproar.
Biden said: “Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal – that’s right, but how many of the thousands of people are being killed by illegals?
“To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you having lost children myself – I understand.”
The President argued the bill, which was rejected by the Senate in February, would “change the dynamic at the border”.
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Jose Antonio Ibarra is charged with nursing student Laken Riley's kidnapping and murder
Facebook/Clarke County Sheriff's Office
He said: “People pay the smugglers $8,000 to get across the border because they know if they get by and [are] let into the country, it’s six to eight years before they have a hearing.
“But if it’s only six months, six weeks, the idea is it’s highly unlikely that people will pay all that money and come all that way knowing they’ll be kicked out quickly.”
“I would respectfully suggest my Republican friends owe it to the American people, get this bill done. We need to act now.”
Riley, 22, a nursing student at Georgia’s Augusta University, was kidnapped and murdered while on a run in February – with 26-year-old Venezuelan Jose Antonio Ibarra charged with her killing.
Alabama Senator Katie Britt, in the official Republican response to Biden’s address, said the President did not “take responsibility” for Riley’s death.
Britt said: “She was brutally murdered by one of the millions of illegal border crossers President Biden chose to release into our homeland – that could’ve been my daughter, it could’ve been yours.
“Tonight, President Biden finally said her name. But he refused to take responsibility for his own actions.”
Biden’s border bill struggles have come under fire from Republicans including former President Donald Trump, who has said the incumbent’s inability to pass the legislation meant he was responsible for Riley’s death.