Donald Trump meets with Laken Riley's family before Georgia rally where he tore into Biden for 'intentionally releasing' into the US the illegal migrant charged with her murder

Donald Trump gathered with Laken Riley's family and friends before his rally in Rome, Georgia on Saturday.

The former president met backstage with those close to the late 22-year-old nursing student after she became a symbol of the southern border crisis when an illegal immigrant was charged with her murder.

'We share your grief,' Trump said while on stage to those he met backstage just moments before, adding that Riley is 'home with God in Heaven.' 

Venezuelan citizen Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, entered the United States illegally in 2022. Trump says President Joe Biden 'intentionally released' Ibarra into the country and says Riley would still be alive if he were president.

Trump spent a chunk of his first speech since Super Tuesday narrowing in on the southern border as he slammed Biden's policies and excoriated him for botching Laken Riley's name during his State of the Union address on Thursday.

'He got Laken's name wrong. Lincoln. Mixing her up with the football coach,' Trump said in reference to University of Southern California football coach Lincoln Michael Riley.

'Are we going crazy, or what? Is this country going crazy?' the former president said in reference to Biden's policies.

Donald Trump met backstage at his Rome, Georgia rally on Saturday with the family and friends of Laken Riley, including the roommate who reported her missing when she left for a jog last month and never came back

An illegal immigrant from Venezuela who was released into the country  in 2022 is charged with murdering Laken Riley, 22, when she was on a jog near the University of Georgia campus where she was studying to be a nurse

Trump is also furious that Biden apologized on Saturday for calling the illegal immigrant charged with murdering Riley last month an 'illegal.'

Speaking with MSNBC this weekend, Biden apologized for using the word when speaking about the man charged with Riley's murder near the University of Georgia last month. Instead, the president said he should have used the term 'undocumented,' which is preferred by immigration activists and progressives.

'He was an illegal alien, he was an illegal immigrant, he was an illegal migrant and he should have never been in this country and he wouldn't have been under Trump's policies,' the former president insisted.

He added that Biden has 'no remorse, no regret' and 'should be apologizing for apologizing to this killer.'

Meanwhile, Biden appeared just an hour down the road for a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia right before Trump came on stage.

Trump told those close with the 22-year-old nursing student that he 'shares your grief'

Supporters held up signs with Riley's image and the message 'say her name' after Biden mistakingly called her 'Lincoln' during his State of the Union on Thursday

Trump scolded Biden for coughing into his hand at his State of the Union address and mimicked the president's stutter at his first rally kicking off the general election fight.

'By far the most disgraceful of Joe Biden's divisive and angry speech – so angry.. he's screaming, screaming and then coughing,' Trump said, then dished out a few fake coughs into his fist.

'And he's always using the right hand,' noted the former president, who has been called a germaphobe. 'He gets off the stage, did you notice nobody wanted to shake his hand?'

'He's always coughing into his hand. And it's not a real cough, it's a nervous habit. He's got to stop. Because there was no real cough,' Trump said, this time issuing an even more dramatic, dry fake cough to laughter.

Trump pointed to several moments in Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday that angered him and demanded they debate.

Biden admittedly had a childhood stutter that sometimes still stumbles his speech. But his age and mumbling has also made it more difficult to understand him, at times.

'Two nights ago we all heard Crooked Joe's angry, dark, hateful rant of a State of the Union address. Didn't it bring us together?' Trump sarcastically quipped.

He then mocked Biden with: Remember he said: 'I'm going to bring the country t-t-t-t-together. I'm going to bring it together.'

'No, no. He's a threat to democracy.'

Trump mocked Biden during his rally in Georgia – and called out the president for his immigration policies

Biden issued several dry coughs into his fist during his State of the Union address on Thursday

Trump rally attendees at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia on Saturday, March 9, 2024  hold posters with images of Laken Riley, 22. An illegal immigrant was charged with her murder

The event Saturday is the first rally after Trump's final primary competitor Nikki Haley conceded after sweeping Super Tuesday losses last week. The former United Nations ambassador only won Vermont out of the 15 states that voted.

Trump's rally in Georgia is also the first time the former president had a chance to get on stage and respond after Biden's last State of the Union address of this term.

Georgia is a swing state massively important to clinch the presidential election victory in November. Trump won the southern state in 2016 with 50.4 percent of the vote, but it flipped blue in 2020 with Biden beating him by just 0.3 percent.

One of the election fraud lawsuits against Trump was brought in Georgia by liberal Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The former president claims this is a sham lawsuit and a politically motivated case against him.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene entered the arena around 1:00 p.m. – four hours before Trump's scheduled arrival – and received a standing ovation at the rally in her Georgia congressional district 14 where many attendees are those she represents in the House.

The lawmaker walked around with a sign with an image of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant while on a jog last month.

At least dozens – and maybe hundreds – of attendees around the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia also held up the signs, which on the back read: 'Remember our Angles.'

Greene made remarks around 3:30 p.m. where she tore in Biden for 'butchering' Riley's name during his State of the UNion – but gave him credit for saying an 'illega' killed her.

'One thing that happened during the State of the Union this week is when I saw Joe Biden walking down the aisle – I held up this pin,' the conservative lawmaker said pointing to her button that reads: 'Laken Riley. Say her name.'

'Because one of our girls, one of our sweet Americans, a beautiful 22-year-old girl studying to be a nurse because all she wanted to do was help people. She just wanted to help people her entire life. And her life was taken by an illegal alien, a monster that should have never been in our country,' Greene added.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was given a warm welcome by rally goers in her congressional district in Rome, Georgia on Saturday. She and others held up signs with 'say her name' and an image with Laken Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last month by an illegal immigrant

But President Biden flubbed her name after the young woman's murder became a symbol of the border crisis.

Speaking to millions of Americans in his annual State of the Union address the president twice called the slain student 'Lincoln' as he held up MTG's pin bearing her name.

'When I saw Joe Biden, I showed him this pin and said 'Say her name. Say her name Say her name. Laken Riley. Say her name.' And then during his speech, after nearly 50 minutes in, he hadn't talked about the open border. He had not even mentioned it. So I yelled for my seat: 'Say her name!' the congresswoman recounted.

'And then, he butchered her name, he mispronounced it – didn't even say it right, he said 'Lincoln.' Her name is Laken, Laken Riley,' she added. 'But you want to know what he did say? He said she was an American murdered by an illegal. That's right. Even Joe Biden was forced to tell the truth. That is the truth.'

The Forum in Rome, Georgia is about an hour north of Atlanta and has a capacity of approximately 4,000 for an event set up like for Trump's rally.