During his speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump made securing our southern border and honoring Angel families a major part of his remarks. This included honoring the life of Laken Riley, who was 22-years-old when she was "horrifically murdered," Trump reminded, in February of last year by a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela who has since been convicted of her murder.
The president didn't hold back on pointing out who is to blame. "Laken was stolen from us by a savage illegal alien gang member who was arrested while trespassing across Biden’s open southern border and then set loose into the United States under the heartless policies of that failed administration. It was indeed a failed administration. He had then been arrested and released in a Democrat-run sanctuary city, a disaster, before ending the life of this beautiful young angel," he shared.
He also honored her mother, Allyson, and sister, Lauren, who were in attendance. "Last year, I told Laken's grieving parents that we would ensure their daughter would not have died in vain," Trump reminded. "That's why the very first bill I signed into law as your 47th president mandates the detention of all dangerous criminal aliens who threaten public safety. It's a very strong, powerful act. It's called the Laken Riley Act," Trump added. "So, Allyson and Lauren, America will never ever forget our beautiful Laken Hope Riley. Thank you very much."
The room erupted to stand in applause in honor of Laken and her mother and sister, at least part of the room did. Just as they refused to do for other emotional moments, Democratic members neither applauded nor stood to honor her memory.
Say her name.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 5, 2025
LAKEN RILEY! pic.twitter.com/5Dn6c0PHk9
Democrats refused to stand to honor the life of Laken Riley in front of her grieving family. pic.twitter.com/qNfsbQ1Vgj
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 5, 2025
Trump's remarks stand in stark contrast to remarks President Joe Biden gave last year for his final State of the Union address. No mention of Laken, who had just been murdered days before, was in the prepared remarks. Rather, he had to be heckled into saying her name by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Biden only sort of said her name, as he mispronounced it as "Lincoln Riley."
Reciting Greene's words back to her, Biden acknowledged that Laken was murdered, "by an illegal," which sent his fellow Democrats into an uproar. It wasn't because of the young woman's murder, but rather because Biden had dared to describe the now-convicted killer in a way that was accurate but offensive to members of his own party.
Biden later told MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart that he should not have used the term, though the White House still claimed he didn't apologize.
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