The mother of the 22-year-old nursing student who was brutally killed in Georgia by an illegal immigrant last month, Laken Riley, blasted President Joe Biden for calling her daughter’s name wrongly during his State of the Union speech.
‘Pathetic’: Laken Riley’s Mom Blasts Biden For Not Even Getting Her Name Right https://t.co/KjrSeozIXd pic.twitter.com/Updv6REffL
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) March 9, 2024
In a post on Facebook, Riley’s mom, Allyson Phillips, expressed disappointment at the revelation that Biden could not say her daughter’s name without botching it.
“Biden does not even KNOW my child’s name – it’s pathetic! If you are going to say her name (even when forced to do so) at least say the right name!” he wrote.
During his State of the Union address on Thursday, Biden was pressured to say Riley’s name by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Biden then attempted to say Laken Riley’s name as requested of him but botched it, saying instead “Lincoln Riley!”
“An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right. But how many of the thousands of people being killed by illegals? To her parents, I say, my heart goes out to you having lost children myself. I understand,” he added.
The fact that both Riley’s parents could have been at the event where the president botched the name of her daughter whose gruesome death remains etched in the minds of many gives another dimension to the ridiculousness of the gaffe.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) had invited both parents to the House Galleries for the State of the Union on Thursday night, but they refused, opting to stay at home and grieve their daughter’s loss, according to a post he made to X.
Announcing the parents’ decision, Collins wrote, “Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime.”
“As Joe Biden attempts to paint a rosy picture of the crime-ridden country he has created, he will look up at an empty seat that memorializes those we’ve lost because of his open border policies,” he added.
Collins has introduced the Laken Riley Act in response to the murder. With the legislation, he aims to prevent such tragic incidents as Riley’s by having immigration officials detain illegal immigrants charged with theft and burglary.
Riley had been killed while jogging around the University of Georgia campus by a 26-year-old illegal immigrant originally from Venezuela. After failing to return home from a run, her body was later found by UGA police, disfigured, with her skull disfigured to, per court documents.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, the suspect, is now being held without bond on charges including aggravated battery, aggravated assault, felony murder, malice murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, hindering a 911 call and others.