On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” CNN National Correspondent Ryan Young stated that 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is “hyperbolizing the current border crisis” in his blaming of President Joe Biden for the death of Laken Riley, a case where the suspect, Jose Ibarra, was in the U.S. illegally according to officials, and a graphic during the segment stated that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is tying the case to illegal immigration. And on “OutFront,” host Erin Burnett said Republicans were “seizing” on the case.
After playing video of Kemp stating that Riley’s death was due to poor federal policy and the failure of the Biden administration to secure the border, Young stated, “Over the weekend, Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sent a letter to the White House criticizing the administration’s immigration policies and demanding information on Ibarra.”
Young then said, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Ibarra was arrested in 2022 for being in the United States unlawfully. He was paroled. And Ibarra was arrested again in New York City in 2023, charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation. According to ICE, NYPD released Ibarra before a detainer could be issued. Former President Donald Trump joined the chorus of blame aimed at the Biden administration, hyperbolizing the current border crisis as ‘Biden’s border invasion’ on Truth Social, saying Riley’s murder should’ve ‘never happened.'”
During the segment, one of the graphics displayed read, “Georgia Governor ties nursing student’s murder to illegal immigration, calls her death ‘preventable'[.]”
Later, on “OutFront,” host Erin Burnett teased her segment on the story by saying, “Republicans seizing on the death of a college student to call for a crackdown at the southern border.”
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