President Joe Biden expressed regret for using the term “illegal” during the State of the Union to categorize the suspected murderer of Laken Riley.

For Context: Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student, was jogging on campus when she was killed last month. The suspect is an immigrant from Venezuela who entered the United States unlawfully. During the State of the Union, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) heckled Biden, calling on him to address Riley’s murder. Biden called Riley “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That's right,” adding, “But how many of the thousands of people [are] being killed by legals? To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you.”

Key Quotes: In an interview with MSNBC (Left bias), Biden said he “shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented.” In response, 2024 Republican frontrunner and former President Donald Trump said Biden "apologized for calling Laken’s murderer an illegal. Biden should be apologizing for apologizing to this killer.”  A White House spokesperson stated later that “The president absolutely did not apologize. There was no apology anywhere in that conversation. He did not apologize. He used a different word.”

How The Media Covered It: Left-rated outlets are more prominently covering criticism regarding Biden’s use of the term “illegal,” while right-rated outlets are more prominently covering criticism of Biden expressing regret for using the term “illegal.” This summary was developed with the help of AllSides' AI technology.