Michigan State Rep Thanked Biden for Rebranding Laken Riley’s Alleged Killer as ‘Undocumented’

President Joe Biden holds up a Laken Riley button as he delivers the State of the Union ad
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Instagram/betsycoffia
Nick Gilbertson

A Democrat Michigan State Representative, in a now-deleted tweet, thanked President Joe Biden for walking back his description of Laken Riley’s alleged murderer as “illegal” and instead using the term “undocumented,” according to Republican Tudor Dixon.

In a post on X, which was deleted and reshared in a photo by Dixon, who was the state’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee, State Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-103) wrote “Thank you” while responding to a clip of Biden’s interview with Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC’s The Saturday Show.

In the clip, Capehart referenced a moment during the State of the Union when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called on Biden to say Riley’s name. After Biden botched the slain 22-year-old University of Georgia student’s name, calling her “Lincoln Riley,” he dubbed her alleged murderer, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, “an illegal.” The terminology infuriated Democrats.

When Capehart confronted Biden about his rhetoric, the president quickly interjected, “–undocumented, undocumented person.”

“And I shouldn’t have used ‘illegal.’ It’s ‘undocumented,’” he doubled down.

Dixon slammed Coffia in response, asking, “How sick do you have to be to worry about disrespecting a murderer?”

“This MI state rep cares more about an illegal animal who brutally murdered a beautiful, young, AMERICAN woman than she does about the safety of our citizens,” Dixon added. “Northern Michigan deserves better than Betsy Coffia.”

In a follow-up post, Dixon tagged Coffia and contended, “We know why you deleted this tweet.”

“Dems published articles bragging about your quid pro quo: Illegals organized your election ground game and got you elected in exchange for driver’s licenses,” Dixon charged.

Former State Rep. Jack O’Malley (R) previously held the seat but lost to Coffia by just over 700 votes in the 2022 election.

Convergence Magazine, a leftist publication whose website states it is “for radical insights,” detailed in November 2022 a successful undertaking by “undocumented leaders in the Grand Traverse area” to flip the seat. The effort was driven mainly by a desire for illegal aliens to once again have access to noncommercial driver’s licenses in the state as was being offered in the Drive SAFE bills, which O’Malley opposed, per the outlet.

“Working with mixed-status families, they encouraged undocumented members of the community to compile lists of eligible voters in their network and urge them to vote, including their children, grandchildren, neighbors, or members of their church,” the article notes. Some have credited the effort for Coffia’s victory, as reporter Kyle Morris noted in the Midwesterner.

House Democrats reintroduced the Drive SAFE legislation in April 2023, and the legislature has faced pressure to take action on them from undocumented workers, according to the Michigan Advance. 

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