White House says Biden called crime victim ‘Lanken Riley’

The White House on Friday released its official transcript of President Biden’s address to Congress, shedding new light on what he was saying when he bungled the name of Laken Riley, the young woman slain in Georgia in a crime being blamed on an illegal immigrant.

It had sounded like Mr. Biden called her “Lincoln Riley,” but the transcript says he called her “Lanken.” Either way, it was a mispronunciation.

The transcript also confirms the president went on to call the suspect in her killing “an illegal,” a term that is considered offensive by immigrant-rights supporters, who say it reduces migrants to a crime.

The off-the-cuff exchange was prompted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, who showed up for the speech decked out in full pro-Trump regalia and with a button that read “Say Her Name / Laken Riley.” When Mr. Biden got to the part of his speech on the border, Ms. Greene shouted at him to say Riley’s name.

Here’s how the transcript describes it:

THE PRESIDENT: (The President holds up a pin reading “Say Her Name, Laken Riley.”) “Lanken — Lanken [Laken] Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed.”

REPRESENTATIVE GREENE: “By an illegal!”

THE PRESIDENT: “By an illegal. That’s right. But how many of thousands of people are being killed by legals?”

(Cross-talk.)

“To her parents, I say: My heart goes out to you. Having lost children myself, I understand.”

“But, look, if we change the dynamic at the border — people pay people — people pay these smugglers 8,000 bucks to get across the border because they know if they get by — if they get by and let into the country, it’s six to eight years before they have a hearing.  And it’s worth the — taking the chance of the $8,000.”