Republicans are chiding President Biden as he tries to save face with Democrats by retracting his use of the term “illegal” in reference to an immigrant accused of murder.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said Sunday the president is “cowering to his base and showing deference to a man who deserves none.”
“This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley,” Mr. Johnson posted on social media, referring to the slaying of a Georgia college woman allegedly at the hands of a Venezuelan national.
“President Biden should be apologizing [to] Laken’s family,” he said. “What an embarrassment.”
Mr. Biden said in an NBC interview last week that he regretted using the term “illegal” during his State of the Union address after receiving scorn from liberals and immigrants rights advocates.
“An undocumented person. I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” Mr. Biden said. “When I spoke about the difference between [former President Donald] Trump and me, one of the things I talked about in the border was the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood. I talked about what I’m not going to do.”
SEE ALSO: Laken Riley’s mom rips Biden for mispronouncing slain daughter’s name
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a former GOP presidential candidate who’s being considered as a vice-presidential pick by Mr. Trump, called Mr. Biden’s apology “disgusting.”
“Joe Biden is more worried about using the word illegal or undocumented,” Mr. Scott said on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.” “The word he should use is murderer.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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