U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, interrupted President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech Thursday to urge him to say the name of Laken Riley, whose murder has become a flashpoint in immigration debates this election year.
The 22-year-old nursing student was killed while she was out on a morning run on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga. in February. Police arrested and charged an immigrant from Venezuela who entered the U.S. illegally with murder, the Associated Press reported.
During the State of the Union address, Greene, an avid supporter of Donald Trump, wore a red “Make America Great Again” hat and a t-shirt that read “Say Her Name Laken Riley.” Greene interrupted Biden’s speech to call on him to acknowledge Riley—and the President responded directly.
“Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” Biden said as he held up the pin Greene had given him earlier, when he entered the chamber before his address. Biden added that his “heart goes out” to Riley’s parents, and that he “understands” having lost children himself.
Biden then turned the interruption into a policy talking point. “But look, if we change the dynamic at the border—people pay these smugglers 8,000 bucks to get across the border, because they know if they get by and let into the country, it’s six to eight years before they have a hearing, and it’s worth taking the chance on the 8,000,” he said. “But, if it’s only six weeks, the idea is it’s highly unlikely that people will pay that money and come all that way knowing that they’ll be able to be kicked out quickly.”
It’s the second time this week that Greene has made headlines with her words and actions. On Super Tuesday, she told a well-known British journalist to “f*ck off” at the end of an on-camera interview when asked about a conspiracy theory she had espoused.
Meanwhile, Biden and Trump continue to duel over border policies after a border security package failed in Congress, as immigration has become a leading issue in the presidential election.
Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican from Alabama, also mentioned Riley in the GOP’s response to Biden’s State of the Union, saying the President “refused to take responsibility for his own actions.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and two other progressive Democrats told TIME they were disappointed in Biden using the word “illegal” for a migrant. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, told the Texas Tribune that it was “dangerous rhetoric.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, told CNN that Biden “should have said undocumented, but that’s not a big thing…We usually say undocumented, he said illegal, I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
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