Jean-Pierre Has 'Nothing' on Biden Calling Laken Riley's Family, Says He 'Doesn't Need a Cognitive Test' (February 28, 2024)

Six days after nursing student Laken Riley was killed while running on the University of Georgia campus, a reporter asked the White House a simple question: Had President Joe Biden spoken to her family? “I don’t have anything regarding to the President speaking to the family,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answered [1][4].

Earlier in the same briefing, on the day Biden had his annual physical, she was asked whether he took a cognitive test. “The President doesn’t need a cognitive test,” she said. The video above shows both answers from the Feb. 28, 2024, White House briefing. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

”I Don’t Have Anything”

Late in the briefing, a reporter turned to the Georgia case. “Karine, has the President spoken to the family of Laken Hope Riley, the young Georgia student who was murdered, allegedly, at the hands of an undocumented immigrant?” [1]

Jean-Pierre offered condolences, then turned cautious. “Given this is an active case, I’m going to be really careful about speaking to that case more specifically,” she said, referring questions “to law enforcement and, obviously, ICE.” Then: “And I — the President — I don’t have anything regarding to the President speaking to the family. But it is heartbreaking” [1].

The reporter pressed. “So, we can assume that they haven’t spoken to this point, at least?” [1]

“I just don’t have anything to read out to you,” Jean-Pierre said. Asked whether she would let reporters know if a call happened, she said, “We would let you know. I just don’t have anything for you” [1].

Who Was Laken Riley

Riley, 22, was an Augusta University nursing student who was killed on Feb. 22, 2024, while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens [2][3]. Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man, was charged in her death. Federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case, the Associated Press reported [4]. He had previously been arrested but was never detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Fox News reported [3].

”The President Doesn’t Need a Cognitive Test”

Earlier in the briefing, another reporter had asked: “And did the President take a mental fitness or cognitive test during his physical this morning?” [1]

Jean-Pierre said she had seen Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, who “was happy with how everything went.” Then she answered the question. “Look, you know, the President doesn’t need a cognitive test. That is not my assessment. That is not my assessment. That is the assessment of the President’s doctor. That is also the assessment of the neurologist who has also made that assessment as well” [1].

“The President’s doctor has said, if you look at what this President — the President, who is also the Commander-in-Chief — he passes a cognitive test every day — every day, as he moves from one topic to another topic,” she said [1].

”Why Not Just Have His Doctor Administer the Test?”

The reporter followed up: “But given that there’s been so much scrutiny, and you say there’s no problem, he would pass the test every day, why not just have his doctor administer the test and then case closed?” [1]

“Because the doctor doesn’t believe that he be- — he needs one,” Jean-Pierre said. She described a clinical cognitive test as “a 15-minute appointment” and said the president’s daily work “is more rigorous than it would be for any 15-minute clinical — clinical appointment.” She then pivoted to the administration’s record on jobs and small businesses [1].

O’Connor’s six-page memo, released that day, called Biden “a healthy, active, robust, 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” The exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center took more than two and a half hours and included what the memo called an “extremely detailed neurologic exam,” the AP reported [5].

”Lanken Riley”

Eight days later, Riley’s name came up again, at Biden’s State of the Union address. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shouted from the floor, “Say her name!” The president held up a pin reading “Say Her Name, Laken Riley” [2].

“Lanken — Lanken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed,” Biden said, according to the official transcript, which adds a White House correction to “Laken.” Greene shouted, “By an illegal!” Biden answered: “By an illegal. That’s right. But how many of thousands of people are being killed by legals?” [2]

Earlier that day, the House had passed a bill named for Riley with the support of 37 Democrats [6]. Two days after the speech, Biden walked back his own words in an MSNBC interview. “I shouldn’t have used illegal, I should’ve… It’s undocumented,” he said. Asked if he regretted the word choice, he said, “yes,” Fox News reported [7].

By the Numbers

22: Laken Riley’s age [3].
10: the counts Ibarra was found guilty of, including malice murder [4].
81: Biden’s age at the physical [5].
2 1/2 hours-plus: the length of the exam at Walter Reed [5].
15 minutes: how long Jean-Pierre said a clinical cognitive test takes [1].
64-35: the Senate vote passing the Laken Riley Act in January 2025 [8].

What Happened Next

Riley’s killer got life. On Nov. 20, 2024, a judge found Ibarra guilty on all 10 counts and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole [4].

Biden left the race. After what the AP called his “troubling performance” at the June 27, 2024, presidential debate, Biden announced on July 21 that he would not seek reelection, writing that “it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down” [9].

Her name became law. On Jan. 29, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, the first piece of legislation to become law in his second administration. It directs ICE to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes or with assaulting a police officer [3].

The doctor took the Fifth. On July 9, 2025, O’Connor invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Biden’s mental fitness in office. His lawyer cited patient privacy and a Justice Department investigation into Biden’s use of the autopen. Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the refusal made it “clear there was a conspiracy.” Biden has called claims that he was impaired “ridiculous and false” [10].

More of Jean-Pierre’s answers checked against the record are on HYGO News’ Karine Jean-Pierre record page.