It is in a rather unusual setting that Alabama Senator Katie Britt chose to respond to Joe Biden's State of the Union speech.
In a video published Thursday March 7, the elected Republican spoke in an immaculate kitchen to respond to the American president's remarks made in the congressional chamber.
In a very dramatic tone, Katie Britt notably criticized the White House tenant's immigration policy and insisted on her attachment to traditional values while addressing American families.
“Right now, our commander in chief is not in charge. The free world deserves better than a hesitant and weakened leader
,
” she declared.
Despite the current State of our Union, I firmly believe that our best days are still ahead.
It's our turn to stand up and prove ourselves worthy of protecting the American Dream.
Together, we can reawaken the heroic spirit of a great nation.
pic.twitter.com/VN6neGCTF4
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) March 8, 2024
The senator also called Biden an "out of touch" professional politician and said the country was increasingly dangerous.
“For years, the left has coddled criminals and defunded the police – while letting repeat offenders go free,” Britt said in her response.
“The result is tragic but predictable: from our small towns to America's most iconic streets, life is becoming more and more dangerous.”
“The Role of the Creepy Mom”
His performance with particularly theatrical accents did not fail to provoke a reaction.
Very quickly, parodies mocking the facial expressions and the setting multiplied on the Internet.
In a sequence published on
Behind the scenes with Katie Britt before her big speech last night.
pic.twitter.com/8dsTMBVMjM
— Dr. Annie Andrews (@AnnieAndrewsMD) March 8, 2024
But it is an imitation of Scarlett Johansson which has made the rounds on social networks with more than seven million views since its publication on March 10.
On the famous show Saturday Night Live, the actress dressed up as Katie Britt and redid the speech in her own way.
“Tonight I’m auditioning for the role of the creepy mom,” she said to underline the strange attitude of the elected Republican.
“I invited you to this empty kitchen because the Republicans want me to appeal to women voters and women love kitchens,” she quipped.
"I'm not just a senator. I'm a wife, a mother, and the craziest bitch in the supermarket parking lot," said the Hollywood star who, like the senator, wore a cross on her neck .
Scarlett Johansson also referenced an encounter with a woman who was a victim of human trafficking and forced prostitution, recounted by Katie Britt in her speech.
“Every little detail is true, other than the year, where it happened, and who was president at the time,” Scarlett Johansson mocked.
Sen.
Katie Britt delivers the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union Address pic.twitter.com/x7mDzO1sWP
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) March 10, 2024
A speech riddled with lies
In her video, the senator had in fact mentioned an interview with a woman "delivered into forced prostitution by the cartels at the age of 12", giving sordid details.
“We would not accept this happening in a third world country. We are in the United States and it is time to act,” she added.
But American media quickly established that this story had happened in Mexico twenty years ago, and not in the United States under the mandate of Joe Biden.
In a viral video posted on TikTok, independent journalist Jonathan Katz claimed that she was referring to Karla Jacinto Romero, who testified before Congress that she worked in Mexican brothels between 2004 and 2008, when George W. Bush was president .
After dissecting her speech, the Washington Post awarded the Republican elected official four Pinocchios, according to its rating system for detecting false information.
"In a high-profile speech like this, a political figure should not mislead voters with emotionally charged language. Romero's story is tragic and could evoke those of other young Mexican girls trapped in the sex trade in this country. But she was not the subject of cross-border trafficking – and her story has nothing to do with Biden,” estimated the American daily.
In response to these criticisms, Katie Britt clumsily defended herself on Fox News on Sunday.
She denied hiding the fact that the rape and sex trafficking case she was referring to actually happened during the presidency of George W. Bush.
“It’s disgusting to want to silence a voice that tells us what human trafficking for sexual purposes is,” she insisted, without explicitly responding to these accusations of lying.
Doing our job for the American people must come first.
pic.twitter.com/749MbqA83L
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) March 10, 2024
Considered one of the rising stars of the Republican Party, Katie Britt sees her reputation tarnished by this disastrous speech.
At 42, the elected representative from Alabama, supported by Donald Trump during his election in 2022, was nevertheless on the rise: the youngest elected Republican to enter the Senate, she was chosen by her party to deliver the traditional reply of the opposition after the US President's State of the Union speech.
This practice has existed since 1966. Republican Senator Everett Dirksen and Representative Gerald Ford then appeared on television to respond to Democratic President Lyndon Johnson.
Since then this response from the opposition party has changed considerably in its form.
In 1985, Bill Clinton participated in an astonishing version.
Then governor of Arkansas, the future Democratic president was responsible for responding to Republican Ronald Reagan's speech.
In a video with the feel of a television report, he appeared moderating a discussion group made up of ordinary Americans and politicians.
In 2017, Democratic Governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear also appeared at a table in a restaurant surrounded by ordinary citizens.
A springboard or a brake
Historically, this response from the opposition has mainly served as a springboard for promising political figures, as CBS News recalls.
In 2011, the young Paul Ryan, elected Republican from Wisconsin, was chosen for this exercise under the mandate of Barack Obama.
He later became the Republican nominee for vice president of the United States and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Five years later, it was South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley who spoke and benefited from a national spotlight.
The elected Republican has since become a major figure in her party, facing Donald Trump during the Republican campaign for the 2024 presidential election.
But this speech can also become a trap.
Several political figures have paid the price, like Katie Britt this year.
In 2009, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal also received a lot of criticism after his performance was considered corny and disastrous.
Four years later, the young growth of the Republican Party Marco Rubio was in turn the object of mockery after grabbing a bottle of water and swallowing a few sips during a strange break during his benefit.
In 2019, social networks were also merciless towards Joe Kennedy III, the grandson of Robert Kennedy, chosen by the Democratic Party to respond to Donald Trump.
Internet users only noticed the saliva at the corners of his lips.
Katie Britt can, however, rest assured.
As the Washington Post notes, "although it has a reputation as one of the worst jobs in politics, this speech is not necessarily a career killer."
As proof, Marco Rubio is still a Republican senator and Joe Kennedy III, currently the United States' special envoy for Northern Ireland, remains tipped as the political heir to the family dynasty.
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