CNN Called Out for 'Shameful' Way It Protected Biden During State of the Union
“Laken Riley should have been able to go on a run in broad daylight without being murdered by an illegal immigrant.”
“But Joe Biden promised not to deport illegal immigrants.”
These are the first two lines of a 30-second commercial that a conservative nonprofit, Building America’s Future, attempted to run during CNN’s coverage of the State of the Union address on Thursday.
The ad highlighted the killing of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was fatally beaten while out for a jog in Athens. The suspected murderer is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who had previously been arrested in New York but not deported.
The ad directly criticized Biden’s policies on deportation and sanctuary cities.
I am told that CNN is refusing to air this. They ran out the clock on a pre-SOTU ad buy — then rejected it, calling several of its claims unsubstantiated. Fox and MNSBC aired it. In case you missed it: https://t.co/4osMsLypnf
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 8, 2024
A clip in the ad showed Biden saying, “No one, no one would be put in jail while waiting for their hearing.”
“So, when Jose Ibarra crossed into America illegally, he was not deported. He was not put in jail,” the narrator said.
“So, when Jose Ibarra was arrested in New York City for endangering a child, he was freed a second time. Ibarra went to Georgia, where he beat Laken Riley to death.”
“How many more killers has Biden set free?” the ad’s narrator asked.
The ad went viral on social media and aired on Fox News and even MSNBC.
However, according to Fox News, CNN refused to air the ad, insisting that the commercial didn’t meet its standards.
CNN confirmed it rejected the ad, saying, “all ads that run on our air go through a review to ensure we are presenting factual and accurate information to our audience,” and Building America’s Future’s ad did not get a spot because the ad had “claims that were unsubstantiated.”
But Building America’s Future accused the network of trying to protect Biden by censoring the ad.
Building America’s Future Advisor Phil Cox told Fox News in a statement, “It is shameful that CNN is censoring the truth and trying to protect President Biden by refusing to air this ad. The American people understand that Biden’s open borders agenda is responsible for the death of Laken Riley.”
Biden has been trying to minimize the effect that the horrific death of Riley allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant has had on the nation.
At the State of the Union on Thursday, Biden attempted to take up Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s challenge to “say her name,” only to add insult to injury by calling her “Lincoln Riley” instead of “Laken Riley.”
In response to the egregious error, Laken Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, wrote on Facebook, “Biden does not even KNOW my child’s name — it’s pathetic! If you are going to say her name (even when forced to do so) at least say the right name!”
However, the only apology Biden issued was not for butchering the murdered young woman’s name but for “mislabeling” the alleged murderer as an “illegal immigrant” instead of calling him “undocumented.”
Now, CNN appears complicit in Biden’s efforts to avoid culpability by refusing to air the ad that criticized the policies that may have led to this death.
Building America’s Future posted the ad on X writing, “This is the ad featuring Laken Riley’s story that Joe Biden and CNN don’t want you to see. They STILL refuse to #SAYHERNAME”
This is the ad featuring Laken Riley’s story that Joe Biden and CNN don’t want you to see.
They STILL refuse to #SAYHERNAMEpic.twitter.com/DKIWvTc9oU https://t.co/MJIlrEpD8u
— Building America’s Future (@bldgUSAfuture) March 8, 2024
The fact that the ad even aired on MSNBC goes to how partisan this once trusted media outlet has become.
“CNN and Joe Biden are in lockstep once again,” Cox told Fox News.
But that’s to be expected from the virtual media outlet of the Biden White House.
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