Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) stated that GOP leaders should have thoroughly examined the statements made by Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) in response to President Biden’s State of the Union address. She is under fire for using a story of sexual violence from 20 years ago to criticize Biden.
When asked by CNN’s Manu Raju about Britt’s choice to share the story in her response, Tuberville said, “Well, that clearly did not go over well.”
“I would expect our leaders to have scrutinized that more because I assume they assisted her with it,” he said on CNN’s “Inside Politics With Manu Raju” on Sunday. “You know, and that’s once again, that’s a mistake. However, it did effectively highlight the reality of the situation at the border. And I think that's what she’s really trying to convey more than anything.”
During her State of the Union response, Britt recounted a meeting with a woman who was a victim of human trafficking from 2004 to 2008. The first-term senator used this story to criticize Biden’s border policies.
Britt defended the story against criticism, arguing the story represents Biden’s border policy.
“I’ve said, in [Biden’s] first 100 days he had 94 executive actions, and those executive actions didn’t just create the crisis. They invited it,” Britt said in a “Fox News Sunday” interview with Shannon Bream. “The truth is, and the media knows that they’re not covering it, that human trafficking has gone up under President Biden.”
The rest of Britt’s State of the Union response — delivered from her kitchen table — depicted a similar, grim picture of the United States and Biden, whom she labeled as a “indecisive and weakened leader.”
Britt’s rebuttal was criticized for its awkward delivery, and the following Saturday, actress Scarlett Johansson appeared on “Saturday Night Live” to mock the senator in the cold open.
When asked about her delivery, Tuberville said he thought it was “good.”
“She really expressed heart and she’s the type, you know, she gets emotional. It’s not like that wasn’t something that was just brought up. I mean … she’s really emotional about being a mom and her kids.”
