It was “The Stepford Wives” meets “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Almost a week later, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt's response to the State of the Union address is still the talk of the town, and widely ridiculed by politicians and pundits alike. It certainly didn't take the skills of a futurist to realize that her less-than-stellar efforts would result in a graphic and cruel parody on “Saturday Night Live.”
One Republican pollster called Britt “creepy,” and a national Republican consultant told Rolling Stone magazine, “I'll give this to Biden. At least he gave a better speech than Katie Britt.” Ta. “This is one of the greatest disasters in our history,” another anonymous Republican strategist told The Daily Beast. Radio host and former Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly had just filed her political retirement papers with a junior senator.
In some ways, Katie Britt has succeeded. There were people talking about her.
Responding to the State of the Union address is a largely thankless task. You are in the crosshairs of your adversary, who will no doubt attack or misrepresent your statements to discredit you. Often there is little benefit to the careers of individuals who receive the obscure honor of offering it.
There were some very poor performances. However, Britt's plan was a huge failure, including Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's near drowning in 2009, Sen. Marco Rubio's gulp of water in 2013, and Congressman Joe Kennedy's appearance in front of the Capitol. It was a disaster that overshadowed even the most notable attempts. In 2018, he was caught on camera with chapstick stuck to his chin, leading viewers to believe he was gasping for breath.
What takes Britt's lukewarm performance from merely ignorant to outright obscene is her darkest moment when she tells a horrifyingly sadistic story that turns out to be, at least by implication, a big lie. was. It was about a woman Britt met while visiting the Texas border. “She had been sex trafficked by the cartel since she was 12 years old. Not only was she raped every day, but she also told me how many times a day she was raped,” Britt said. Told. “When something like this happens in a third world country, we cannot tolerate it. This is the United States of America, and I think it's past time for us to start acting like that. Biden. The president’s border policies are disgraceful.”
Such descriptions appeared to be powerful, moving, and emotional stories. However, some stealth fact-finding led by journalist Jonathan Katz revealed that while the woman in question and her experiences were accurate, they did not take place on American soil, but rather in Mexico. Became. These also occurred between 2004 and 2008, more than a decade before Biden took office. The newspaper's fact checker, Glenn Kessler, awarded Britt four Pinocchios for twisting the tragic story to make a partisan point.
The party's rising star, 42, was supposed to represent “America's mom,” according to a talking point distributed to conservative influencers before Britt spoke from an upscale designer kitchen. Fellow Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said, “She was elected not just to be a senator, but to be a housewife.” Really?
Britt is actually a lawyer who served on Capitol Hill as chief of staff to his predecessor, Richard Shelby. She was also the first woman to lead the Alabama Business Council, the state's chamber of commerce. She's a trailblazer as far as female politicians in Alabama are concerned, so presenting her as a housewife provides some insight into why the Republican Party is having a hard time recruiting suburban women effectively. A serious flaw was revealed.
This deeply contradictory and problematic message is hardly reassuring at a time when the Republican Party is trying to shed its image of women as regressive figures seeking to return to a pre-1960s era.
Women are largely absent from the workplace, primarily provide for their families, are forced to accept physical and emotional abuse, struggle with mental health issues while suffering in isolation and silence, and silently overlook marital infidelity. , a time when we had to acquiesce even if we didn't, and we lost all rights. They are stripped of their legal rights by the justice system and live in a state of deep second-class status and potential economic and social vulnerability. Such an image is unlikely to motivate many women across the political and generational spectrum, especially many Millennial and Gen Z women, to support the party.
Some are considering Katie Britt's future. Some argue that she has likely been removed from President Trump's list of running mate candidates. Some believe it will take years for her to recover from such a politically dire situation.
One thing is certain. Neither the Republican National Committee nor the national Republican Party did themselves any favors by introducing Katie Britt into the political lion's den and reacting in such ill-judged fashion.
Elwood Watson's columns are distributed by the Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
