Confronted by MTG, Biden admits illegal killed Georgia nursing student Laken Riley

President Biden in his State of the Union address Thursday night acknowledged nursing student Laken Riley was killed by an illegal resident, after being confronted on the matter by firebrand Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

Biden had until tonight been criticized for not publicly acknowledging Riley's death, allegedly by an illegal resident from Venezuela who entered the U.S. in 2022. She was found on the University of Georgia campus late last month. 

The president in acknowledging Riley's death held up a pin eulogizing her, reportedly one passed out by Greene, wearing a red jacket and MAGA baseball cap.

He argued that so many people are trying to cross illegally into the U.S. – even willing to pay $8,000 for a smuggler to help them – because they think the risk and cost is worth it because they know they won't have to appear in court for months. Then he urged congressional Republicans to pass a bill now on Capitol Hill that would shorten that time, arguing it would dis-incentivize illegal crossers. 

"Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right,” said Biden, who mispronounced the woman's name. “But how many thousands of people being killed by illegals? To her parents I say, my heart goes out to you having lost children myself.

“But look, if we change the dynamic at the border, people pay these smugglers."