When Trump Was Slammed for Autographing Late Laken Riley’s Photo and Posing With Her Family

Former President Donald Trump drew strong criticism on social media for choosing to autograph a picture of the murdered teenager Laken Riley and then smile for a picture with her family. Before the March 9 event in Georgia, Trump met with the family of Riley, who was a nursing college student discovered dead near the University of Georgia last month. Many right-wingers have made Riley's death a major political talking point, using her murder to talk up their anti-immigration stances since Riley was reportedly murdered by Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan citizen who illegally entered the United States in 2022, per HuffPost.

Riley died from blunt force trauma, according to the authorities, and her skull was deformed. Consequently, Ibarra faces several charges, such as criminal murder, false imprisonment, and murder with malice. At Trump's Georgia event, Riley's mom Allyson Phillips, and Riley's dad Jason Riley, met the former president backstage. On his website, Trump shared pictures from the meeting, one of which showed Trump grinning as he held a portrait of Riley autographed by him. This picture sparked outrage on social media, catching many Americans' eyes, among them the Star Wars star Mark Hamill, who tweeted his disdain, per Raw Story.

"Nothing to see here, folks," Hamill posted on X sarcastically. "Just a run-of-the-mill shot of a smiling ex-president grotesquely posing with a photo of a tragic victim of violence he thought appropriate to autograph." "Ghoulish," reads a post on X by another user, who slammed the politicization of a gruesome murder. "All you need to know is that they only care about the politics." Another user slammed the former president on X, saying, "My God he autographed the photo of her Who does that, FFS." Another user on X took issue with the business mogul's expression on what is a somber event, "Why is he smiling?"

A user slammed Trump's supporters for not having a problem with this, saying on X, "Yeah, Trump cult members have no problem with this stuff." Another user drew comparisons with President Joe Biden, saying on X, "Distasteful doesn't come CLOSE to describing this scene. The situation, the people, the smiles, the misspelled name, the pen, the autograph...and a f*ing MAGA hat. I know at least ONE person who would NEVER be pulling this stunt, and HE will kick this clown's ass in November." Another person pointed out that this is a giant PR failure, saying on X, "I realize I’m no PR professional here, but maybe don’t wear an ear-to-ear shit-eating grin when holding the picture of a woman whose tragic death you’ve decided to use for political purposes."

Another user slammed Trump using an AI-generated cartoon of Trump with Satanic horns and a macabre feel to it, saying on X, "Trump will autograph a Bible or a dead girl photo because his narcissism and lack of self-awareness is boundless."

This article was originally published on 03.14.24.