Donald Trump accused of lying over claims he spoke to murder victim’s family
The sister of a woman whose murder was used by Donald Trump during his “bloodbath” border rally has accused the former president of lying about speaking to her family.
During a speech in Michigan on Tuesday, Mr Trump spoke about the death of Ruby Garcia, 25, who was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
Mr Trump, 77, described her as a “beautiful young woman who was savagely murdered by an illegal alien criminal”.
“She lit up that room, and I’ve heard that from so many people,” Mr Trump said. “I spoke to some of her family.”
It came after Mr Trump told a Detroit radio station on Monday that he would “love” to see Ruby’s family at his Grand Rapids rally “if they’d like to be there”.
But Mavi Garcia, Ruby’s sister, denied any family members have spoken to Mr Trump.
“He did not speak with any of us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoke with us, and misinforming people on live TV,” she told Target 8.
Ruby’s alleged killer, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, had a previous arrest record and was deported in September 2020 under the Trump administration before coming back to the United States.
She said she wishes Ruby’s alleged killer had “stayed in Mexico” but that “the focus should be on my sister right now, who she was in life”.
Mr Trump has been using the deaths of people killed by undocumented migrants to score political points, dubbing it “Biden migrant crime”.
In recent weeks, he has highlighted the killing of 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. An illegal migrant from Venezuela has been charged with her murder.
“It’s always been about illegal immigrants,” Ms Garcia told WOOD-TV.
“Nobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes, and it’s kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals. What about Americans who do heinous crimes like that?”
In his speech on Tuesday, Mr Trump also appeared to mix up the victim’s age, first saying she was 25 and then later referring to her incorrectly as 17.
He also accused Biden of creating a “bloodbath” at the southern border and he called immigrants illegally in the US “animals”.
