President Biden addressed the Israel-Hamas war, Russian President Putin’s aggression, and border security in a candid interview with MSNBC.
President Biden sat down with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart for a wide-ranging interview that aired Saturday, covering the Israel-Hamas war and the crisis at the southern border. Biden also walked back his «illegal» description of Laken Riley’s murder suspect.
This marks Capehart’s second interview with Biden during his presidency, a rare feat for anyone to be granted multiple sit-downs, let alone one. His first interview with Biden was in October 2022.
The president was asked by Capehart about his use of the word «illegal» to describe Laken Riley’s alleged killer during his State of the Union speech Thursday and said that he should’ve used the word «undocumented» instead.
«And I shouldn’t have used illegal, I should’ve… It’s undocumented. And look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about on the border was his – the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood. I talked about what I’m not going to do, what I won’t do. I’m not going to treat any, any, any of these people with disrespect. Look, they built the country. The reason our economy is growing, we have to control the border and more orderly flow. But I don’t share his view at all.»
When asked if he regrets his word choice, Biden replied «yes.»
During an off-the-prompter moment at his State of the Union address, Biden mistakenly referred to Riley as «Lincoln Riley,» in which he used the term «illegal» to describe the suspect.
Some members within Biden’s own party have criticized him for his use of the term «illegal,» prompting him to initially defend his choice before eventually retracting it during a conversation with Capehart.
