OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:54 AM – Monday, March 11, 2024
Former President Donald Trump met with Laken Riley’s family before he made an appearance at a Georgia rally.
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On Saturday, Trump held a rally in Rome, Georgia, where he met with Riley’s family before speaking with the large attending crowd of supporters.
“I met her beautiful mother and family backstage,” Trump told the crowd in Rome. “They said she was the best. She was always the best for us. They admit that she was the best, and she was the first in her class. She was going to be the best nurse. She was the best nursing student. She was always the best. She was the brightest light in every room, they told me. She was the whole world to her parents, to her sister, and just to the whole family.”
Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who had been attending school in Georgia, was reportedly jogging on February 22nd when she was fatally attacked by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.
Trump blamed Biden’s open border policies for Riley’s death, explaining that the current Democrat president has been allowing undocumented immigrants from a wide range of countries, even some third world countries, to easily enter the United States illegally.
“Biden has implemented a formal policy that illegal aliens who intrude into the United States are granted immunity from deportation,” Trump said. “Thus, when this monster showed up at our border, he was set free immediately under the program. That crooked Joe created it.”
Trump added that he was “profoundly honored” to have Riley’s family and friends at the rally.
“They’re so incredible,” he continued. “The hearts of hundreds of thousands, and indeed millions and millions of Americans and people worldwide, are shattered alongside your beautiful hearts. We share your grief. We share your grief. Thank you, darling. Thank you. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.”
In his aggressive attack on Trump during his annual speech on Thursday, Biden only mentioned Laken Riley in his address after immense pressure from Republicans.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene [R-SC] gave the president a pin with Riley’s name on it, and after he was repeatedly heckled during the speech and demanded that he say Riley’s name, the president said, “I know how to say her name.”
“Lincoln—LLLincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” Biden said, both botching her name and using a term considered politically incorrect by most Democratic officeholders.
Biden later apologized on Saturday for referring to the alleged murderer, who entered the nation illegally from Venezuela, as “illegal.” However, Biden never apologized for mispronouncing Riley’s name.
26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, a citizen of Venezuela who entered the country illegally in 2022 during Biden’s reign in office, is being held without bond on counts of kidnapping, felony murder, malice murder, aggravated battery, and other offenses connected to Riley’s death.
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