Trump campaign uses Bill Clinton’s comments unwittingly blaming Harris' policies for Laken Riley's death

FORT VALLEY, GEORGIA: Former president Bill Clinton defended the failed bipartisan Senate border security bill while campaigning for the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris at a fish fry event in Georgia on Sunday, October 13.

However, Clinton brought up the death of Laken Riley while explaining the importance of the legislation, which allowed the campaign of GOP nominee Donald Trump to flip the narrative against the Democrats.

Bill Clinton's comments on immigration at Harris campaign event

According to The Hill, Bill Clinton argued at the event that the border security bill would have allowed the federal government to utilize more resources to vet the immigrants.

"(Harris is) the only candidate who has actually endorsed a bill that would hold down immigration in any given year to any certain point and then give people a decent place to live, make sure we didn’t divide people from their children and we did total vetting before people came in,” he said.

“Now, Trump killed the bill. The bill was written, being written by senior Republicans in the Senate. And he killed the bill. Why? You got a case in Georgia not very long ago. They made an ad about it, about a young woman who’d been killed by an immigrant. Yeah well, if they’d all been properly vetted, that probably wouldn’t have happened,” shared Clinton, seemingly highlighting a drawback of the Biden-Harris administration.

"But if they're all properly vetted and that doesn't happen, and America is not having enough babies to keep our populations up, so we need immigrants that have been vetted to do work, there wouldn't be a problem," he added.

Trump campaign seizes Bill Clinton's remark about Laken Riley

The deceased young woman from Georgia whom Bill Clinton mentioned in his speech was Laken Riley, a nursing student who was found dead in February. A Venezuelan immigrant, Jose Ibarra, has been accused of her murder and is currently awaiting trial.

Seizing Clinton's remark on Sunday, the Trump campaign shared an email blast stating, “Bill Clinton Blames Kamala Harris For Laken Riley’s Death,” along with a link to the video snippet beginning where the former Democratic president brought up the Riley killing.

Angel Ureña, a spokesman for Clinton, slammed the move, telling The Hill, "The Trump campaign disingenuously took president Clinton’s comments out of context."

While Riley's death has been portrayed by conservatives as a clear link between immigration and crime, it is important to note that most studies show immigrants commit crimes at lesser rates than natural-born citizens.

Conservatives troll Bill Clinton over his comments

Netizens, especially conservatives, reacting to the news on the social media platform X took to trolling Bill Clinton. The following tweets demonstrate their takes.

"This should be made into a Trump commercial immediately," wrote a user.

"Keep up the good work there cowboy!" exclaimed another, posting a meme showing Clinton wearing a MAGA hat.

"Even a rusty old stopped clock is right twice a day," jibed a third.

"Thanks, Bill. Looking forward to your next comedy skit," chided a fourth.

"Truth always comes out one way or another," observed a fifth user.

"Even Clinton sees the truth. Too bad it's his party that's at fault," expressed yet another.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.