Katie Britt Accused of ‘Whopping Lie’ in SOTU Response | #republicans | #Alabama | #GOP

Senator Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican, has been accused of making a “whopping lie” regarding a sex trafficking victim in her State of the Union rebuttal address.

President Joe Biden on Thursday evening delivered the annual State of the Union address before Congress. After weathering months of recent criticism over his age and its effect on his fitness for office, Biden’s address was noted and praised by many for its energy and vigor, with the president frequently railing against his “predecessor” and the dangers he poses to the country. Some Republicans, conversely, complained that the speech was too energetic and too politicized.

Britt is the junior senator from Alabama, having been elected to office in the 2022 midterms. At 40, she was the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate and the first-ever female senator from Alabama, leading many to deem her a rising star in the party. Her rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union address, however, had a less than favorable reception. While some in the GOP praised her address for its attacks against the president and his border policies, others were critical and mocking of her cadence and tone. Some critics deemed it “creepy” and amateurish.

Former President Donald Trump in a post to Truth Social called Britt “a GREAT contrast to an Angry, and obviously very Disturbed, ‘President.'”

In addition to that, accusations have also emerged that Britt’s rebuttal featured a “whopping lie” in her reference to a woman who said she had been sexually trafficked from Mexico to the U.S. at the age of 12. Britt claimed to have met this woman during a visit to the border in the “Del Rio sector of Texas.”

“She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at age 12,” Britt said. “She told me not just that she was raped every day, but how many times a day she was raped…We wouldn’t be OK with this happening in a third-world country. This is the United States of America, and it’s past time we start acting like it. President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace. It’s despicable. And it’s almost entirely preventable.”

On Friday, however, Talking Points Memo journalist Jonathan M. Katz posted a lengthy video to TikTok in which he cited evidence to suggest that Britt’s portrayal of the woman’s situation was inaccurate. According to information Katz found, including from her own past testimony before Congress, the woman that he believes the senator likely spoke to, Karla Jacinto Romero, was trafficked at a young age entirely within Mexico. This occurred during a time when Biden was not in the White House in any capacity, between 2004 and 2008.

“These events didn’t happen in the United States,” Katz said. “These crimes didn’t take place in the United States. Or even near the border. They took place in Mexico.”

Newsweek reached out to Britt’s office via email on Saturday afternoon for comment. Any responses received will be added to this story in a later update.

In response to an inquiry from The Washington Post, Sean Ross, a spokesman for Britt, confirmed that she had been referring to Romero’s story and claimed that what she said “was 100 percent correct,” though did not specifically refute Katz’s evidence or arguments.

“The story Senator Britt told was 100% correct,” Ross said. “And there are more innocent victims of that kind of disgusting, brutal trafficking by the cartels than ever before right now. The Biden administration’s policies — the policies in this country that the President falsely claims are humane — have empowered the cartels and acted as a magnet to a historic level of migrants making the dangerous journey to our border.”

This response, in turn, was met with criticism from some notable figures on social media, including George Conway, the conservative lawyer and co-founder of the anti-Trump political action committee, The Lincoln Project.

“This. Is. The. Epitome. Of. A. Non-denial denial,” Conway posted on X. “WOW.”

Many others criticized Britt’s remarks about the sex-trafficking victim, accusing the senator of lying.

“Wild that Katie Britt told a whopping lie during her State of the Union rebuttal with her story about a sex trafficking victim and these are the only outlets/sites covering it,” Kaivan Shroff, press secretary for the pro-Biden non-profit group Dream for America, wrote in a post to X, featuring photos of headlines. “Imagine if a Democrat did the same…would be a huge story. Instead media doesn’t care, gives a pass.”

“So it appears that [Katie Britt] is not just a bad actress but also a huge liar,” journalist John Harwood wrote in a post. “This is what the Republican Party has become.”

“He caught Sen. Britt in an out and out lie,” Talking Points founder Josh Marshall wrote in his post. “Amazing work. And just sitting there in plain site. Really worth your taking a few minutes to watch this video” Sen. Britt, not only an emotionally disregulated freak, also a big fat liar.”

Update 03/09/2024, 4:09 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include a response from Britt’s office given to the Washington Post, and a reaction to it.