Former President Donald Trump blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for the tragic murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley at a rally held at the Georgia State University Convocation Center in Atlanta on Saturday. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Augusta, was murdered by an alleged migrant who had crossed the border illegally and was linked to the Venezuelan gang El Tren de Aragua. The assailant entered the United States via El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 but was released from custody after about a day.
During his speech at the rally, Trump accused Harris of allowing the murderer into the country and thus being “responsible for the death” of Laken Riley. He urged her to beg the victim’s family for forgiveness instead of seeking votes.
Also during the rally, Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for securing a deal in the recent prisoner swap with the United States that released Wall Street Journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, as well as 14 others from a Russian prison on Thursday. He questioned whether this action set a dangerous precedent, however, by releasing some of the world’s most notorious killers in exchange for prisoners of interest to Russia.
In addition, Trump weighed in on the controversy surrounding Algerian female boxer Imane Khelif, who was previously disqualified from an international competition but cleared by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete in the Olympics and secured a medal on Saturday. The former president referred to Khelif, who was born a biological female, as “he” and criticized the IOC for allowing her to participate in women’s boxing, despite being transgender. Trump has consistently promised to protect women’s sports from such scenarios if re-elected to office.
