Speaker Johnson points out what is missing in Biden's apology for calling Laken Riley's accused killer an 'illegal'

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) rebuked President Joe Biden on Sunday for kowtowing to liberal word police.

At the State of the Union address last Thursday, Biden referred to Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan immigrant charged with murdering Laken Riley, as an "illegal." The moment upset Democrats who believe the adjective is dehumanizing. The next day, Biden appeared to defend himself by pointing out that Ibarra was "technically not supposed to be here."

But on Saturday, Biden capitulated, telling MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart that Ibarra is "an undocumented person."

"I shouldn't have used 'illegal.' It's 'undocumented,'" Biden said, confirming that he feels "regret" for describing Ibarra as an "illegal."

"I'm not gonna treat any of these people with disrespect. They built the country. They're the reason the economy is growing" Biden added of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

It is a remarkable moment for several reasons.

First, remember that Democrats upset about Biden's use of the word "illegal" were not upset that Biden butchered Riley's name. During the SOTU address, he said Riley's first name was "Lincoln."

Now, Biden is virtue-signaling to appease progressive Democrats, and seemingly Riley's alleged killer, instead of expressing regret that she was murdered at all and that his immigration policies may have contributed to her death. That, of course, was the exact determination of House Republicans and 37 House Democrats last week.

Meanwhile, Biden did not apologize for butchering Riley's name, which upset her mother.

Biden's apology, then, is an "embarrassment," according to Speaker Johnson.

"The president is cowering to his base and showing deference to a man who deserves none," the speaker said. "This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley. President Biden should be apologizing to Laken’s family. What an embarrassment."

But Biden is not apologizing to Riley's family for getting their daughter's name wrong or for allowing the border crisis to grow unmitigated. The silence, indeed, is deafening.

Meanwhile, the White House is already engaging in damage control.

On Monday, spokeswoman Olivia Dalton claimed that Biden did not apologize for using the word "illegal" because he "used a different word," seemingly in reference to Biden not specifically saying "sorry" or "apologize."

But someone should loan the White House a dictionary because Biden did make "an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret" in his interview with Capehart, which is the textbook definition of "apology."

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