Trump gets age of murdered woman wrong while using her death to slam Biden’s immigration policy

Donald Trump appeared to get the age of a murdered young Michigan woman wrong, as he used her death to criticise President Joe Biden’s border policies at a recent campaign rally.

In a speech on Tuesday afternoon in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the former president spoke about 25-year-old Ruby Garcia. Law enforcement officials say Garcia was murdered by 25-year-old Brandon Ortiz-Vite, a man from Mexico who she was romantically involved with.

While speaking about Garcia’s death, Mr Trump told supporters “On March 22nd, [Ortiz-Vite] shot 17-year-old Ruby, actually, she was a beautiful, beautiful young woman. Ruby Garcia was shot multiple times.”

Mr Trump has used used his typically incendiary rhetoric to speak about the US-Mexico border, migrants and crime – promoting his anti-immigration border policies and stoking fear about the current state of the border.

Ortiz-Vite was in the United States illegally, a fact that several conservatives have used to broadly claim that the people crossing the US-Mexico border are dangerous and blame President Biden for allowing them in.

At the rally, Mr Trump described Ortiz-Vite as an “illegal alien criminal” and said he had been “set loose” on the streets of Michgan “by politicians that are left and weak and stupid.”

“We threw him out of the country and crooked Joe Biden took them back and let him back in and let him stay in, and he viciously killed Ruby – the illegal alien charged with Ruby’s really heinous killing,” he said.

“This is somebody that had many, many arrests, including for some very bad crimes that he committed that he was set loose to roam our streets.”

Several politicians have criticised Mr Trump and his allies for appearing to capitalise on the death of a young person to make a political point. Garcia’s sister has also posted on social media asking reporters to stop using her story to turn it into “political bull****”.

At the rally Mr Trump claimed he had spoken to Garcia’s family, saying: “Now Ruby’s loved ones and community are left grieving for this incredible young woman… They said she had just [had] most contagious laughter and when she walked into a room, she lit up that room.

“I’ve heard that from so many people. I spoke to some of her family.”

The former president went on to describe other recent murders, which he said were perpetrated by “illegal aliens,” including that of 22-year-old Laken Riley.

Jose Antonio Ibarra was accused of killing the young nursing student on the University of Georgia campus in February. Ibarra was reportedly a Venezuelan migrant who entered the country illegally.

Mr Trump said: “You know Laken, she’s, she was incredible top of her class. Everything was the top. She was the top of everything. “