Donald Trump lied during a Tuesday rally in Michigan when he said he spoke with the family of teenage murder victim Ruby Garcia, according to Garcia’s grieving family.
For starters, Ruby Garcia was 25 years old when she was allegedly killed by a man who was in the U.S. illegally, according to The Associated Press. Trump said she was 17.
And according to the victim’s sister, Trump’s claim in Grand Rapids that he “spoke to some of her family” was news to the Garcia family.
“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,” the victim’s sister Mavi Garcia told Michigan’s WOOD-TV.
Mavi Garcia said she watched part of Trump’s speech, but needed to turn it off when he started exploiting her sister’s death to spew anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“It’s always been about illegal immigrants,” she complained. “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?”
Ruby Garcia was allegedly shot, then dumped alongside a Michigan highway last month by a man she knew.
Brandon Ortiz-Vite is due in court next week on murder and carjacking charges. The 25-year-old suspect entered the U.S. illegally as a child, according to Michigan station WZZM. He reportedly confessed to killing Ruby Garcia.
“She had the most contagious laughter, and when she walked into a room, she lit up that room,” Trump said at his rally. “I’ve heard that from so many people. I spoke to some of her family.”
Mavi Garcia says her family is close and she would know if the former president was in contact with any of them. She calls Trump’s antics a distraction for the murder victim’s grieving loved ones.
“The focus should be on my sister right now,” Mavi Garcia told WOOD-TV.
Trump didn’t specify which members of the Garcia family he allegedly contacted.
His campaign has not returned a request for comment.
