Biden says he regrets using the term ‘illegal’ to describe suspected killer of Laken Riley

President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he regretted using the term “illegal” to refer to the suspected killer of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

Mr Biden apologised after some people from his political party expressed frustration with the president using the term to describe people who arrived in the US illegally.

“I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” he said in an interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart taped in Georgia’s capital city Atlanta.

Donald Trump, who was campaigning in Rome, Georgia, at the same time, blasted Mr Biden for his apology.

“Joe Biden went on television and apologized for calling Laken’s murderer an illegal....Biden should be apologizing for apologizing to this killer,” Mr Trump said at his rally.

Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was murdered while she was jogging on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Police detained a 26-year-old man from Venezuela named Jose Ibarra, allegedly an undocumented immigrant who has been charged with felony murder, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

Riley’s murder has become a hotly debated topic in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, with Republicans rallying over the Biden administration’s handling of the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.

Mr Trump, who has made immigration a central topic in his campaign, was joined at his rally by Riley’s parents, her sister, and friends on Saturday, who were welcomed with a standing ovation and large signs.

“We share your grief,” the former US president told them.

“What Joe Biden has done on our border is a crime against humanity and the people of this nation for which he will never be forgiven,” Mr Trump said.

He alleged that Riley “would be alive today if Joe Biden had not