“I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” Biden said in an interview Saturday.
On Saturday, President Joe Biden expressed his remorse for referring to the Venezuelan man accused of murdering a Georgia nursing student as “illegal” during his State of the Union address, acknowledging the individual’s unauthorized entry into the U.S.
“I should have said ‘undocumented’ instead of ‘illegal,'” Biden remarked during a conversation with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart.
During his address to Congress on Thursday night, President Joe Biden deviated from his prepared remarks following an interruption by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who shouted the name “Laken Riley,” a 22-year-old Georgia medical student reportedly murdered by an undocumented individual.
Biden inaccurately pronounced her name as “Lincoln Riley,” and described her as an innocent young woman killed by an “illegal,” offering condolences to her family. The term “illegal” has been widely criticized by Democrats and immigrant advocates as dehumanizing, leading to backlash against Biden’s usage, especially considering his 2021 directive against using “illegal alien” in immigration agencies.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) were among those who criticized Biden’s language on X, with Omar stating, “No human being is illegal” and Rep. Joaquin criticizing it on X
However, when queried about his use of “illegal” on Friday, Biden did not express regret, stating those individuals are “technically not supposed to be here.”
The Biden administration aims to project a tough stance on immigration amid rising voter concerns for the 2024 election, despite struggling with low approval ratings on the issue and balancing criticism from immigration advocates disappointed by the perceived failure to fulfill his promise of establishing a more humane immigration system.
In a Saturday interview conducted in Atlanta before his campaign rally, Biden sought to distinguish his approach from Donald Trump’s, particularly criticizing Trump’s derogatory language towards immigrants and emphasizing respect for all individuals
