Former President Donald Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris over the tragic death of 22-year-old Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant.
Speaking to a packed crowd in Atlanta, Georgia, Trump blamed Harris, the so-called “border czar,” for Riley’s death, attributing it to her lax immigration policies that have allowed millions of illegal immigrants to cross the southern border.
“Laken’s blood is on Kamala Harris’ hands,” Trump declared during his rally at the Georgia State University Convocation Center on Saturday.
Trump’s comments followed Harris’s recent campaign event in the city, where she had referred to him as a “predator.”
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“Kamala Harris let in the savage monster who killed Laken Riley,” Trump asserted at the rally. “Kamala is responsible for the death as though she were watching it herself.”
The New York Post reported that Riley, a nursing student at the University of Augusta, was jogging around her campus on February 22 when she was murdered by an illegal immigrant. Riley’s body was found in a wooded area near Lake Herrick. Officials attributed her death to blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
The murderer, identified as 26-year-old Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra, entered the country illegally through the southern border in 2022 and was released after a day in custody. Ibarra, affiliated with the notorious Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua,” pleaded not guilty to 10 charges related to Riley’s murder.
“Kamala Harris should not be asking for your vote; she should be begging Laken Riley’s family for forgiveness,” Trump declared.
In his 90-minute speech, Trump also “congratulated” Russian President Vladimir Putin on the latest Russia-U.S. prisoner exchange, claiming that the Kremlin released some of their worst criminals. Among those released back to the U.S. were Wall Street journalist Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, and 14 others.
“They released some of the greatest killers anywhere in the world,” Trump said, referring to the prisoners the U.S. and other Western countries turned over to Russia. “It’s nice to say we got them back, but does that set a precedent?”
Trump also addressed the controversial Olympic boxing match between Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, a biological male, and Angela Carini. The Olympics allowed Khelif to compete in the female boxing match against Carini, who quit the fight after 46 seconds.
“[Carini] got hit so hard she didn’t know what the hell hit her … he was a good male boxer. And she didn’t even go down. He hurt her with two jabs and she said, ‘I’m out,’” Trump said.
The former president reiterated that, if elected, he would prohibit men from competing in women’s sports.
“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto the shoulders of our children,” he said. “And I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate. And I will keep men out of women’s sports.”