That’s not Sen. Britt in her immediately reviled “response” to President Biden’s faux State of the Union address. That’s Scarlett Johanssen as Britt in a subsequent Saturday Night Live “cold open” that practically wrote itself and was as richly deserved as any target of satire the 50 year-old show has ever taken on.
The principle is pretty basic: if the opposing party’s “response” to a SOTU is so bad that it distracts potential critics of the President’s speech, it’s a disaster. But Britt’s flame-out wasn’t just her speech’s “give Democrats a stick to beat Republicans with” kitchen setting, Britt’s creepy forced smile, and her community theater theatrics that marked her performance as a an embarrassment to the GOP and a gift to Democrats. It turns out that Britt was also lying her head off….and not even well.
Bill Clinton could make a fortune giving lessons.
The news media, looking for something to keep Biden’s travails and lies hidden as much as possible, are all over this now and for once the coverage is beyond reproach. I might as well default to Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post’s mostly biased fact-checker who is on firm ground this time. Glenn deserves a pat on the head for doing some legitimate (if incomplete) “fact-checking” of Biden’s speech here.
In dissecting the “response,” Kessler focuses on this drawn out and melodramatic section of Britt’s speech:
“We know that President Biden didn’t just create this border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days. When I took office, I took a different approach. I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas. That’s where I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12. She told me not just that she was raped every day, but how many times a day she was raped. The cartels put her on a mattress in a shoe box of a room, and they sent men through that door over and over again for hours and hours on end. We wouldn’t be okay with this happening in a Third World country. This is the United States of America, and it is past time, in my opinion, that we start acting like it. President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace.”
Kessler’s analysis in part:
“…you likely would have thought she was talking about a recent victim of sex trafficking who was abused in the United States and suffered because of President Biden’s policies..[but] Sean Ross, Britt’s communications director, confirmed that she was talking about Karla Jacinto Romero — who has testified before Congress about being forced to work in Mexican brothels from 2004 to 2008… Biden has nothing to do with Romero’s story. As she testified nine years ago, her mother threw her out of her house at age 12 and she “fell prey to a professional pimp.” She says she then spent the next four years in brothels before a regular client helped her escape when she was 16 years old. There is no indication in her story that drug cartels were involved…Romero was never trafficked to the United States.”
To sum up, what happened to the sex-trafficking victim occurred in Mexico, not the U.S. as Britt implied. It occurred during George W. Bush’s administration, and thus has nothing to do with Biden’s Presidency or his border policies. Yet Britt said, “We wouldn’t be okay with this happening in a Third World country. This is the United States of America, and it is past time, in my opinion, that we start acting like it. President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace.”
It’s an outright, indefensible lie, made worse by the fact that Biden’s border policies are a disgrace, and one shouldn’t have to make up stories to explain why. Britt has no defense, none at all. If she allowed an aide to give her false information (though her own words state that she met this woman, which seems unlikely), she is incompetent and irresponsible. If she knew her story was bunk, she’s a liar. Kessler gives her four “Pinocchios,” which is entirely fair, though he seldom gives Biden any “Pinocchios” no matter how big a whopper he tells.
Adding to Britt’s nationally-televised exposure as a lazy, grinning, untrustworthy demagogue, is the reaction of her paid liar, the Senator’s communications director, Sean Ross. With his boss caught red-handed, Ross did what such slimy people do: he denied reality and reverted to a Jumbo while refusing to address Britt’s misleading language.
“The story Senator Britt told was 100% correct. 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. Along that journey, children, women, and men are being subjected to gut-wrenching, heartbreaking horrors in our own backyard. And here at home, the Biden administration’s policies are leading to more and more suffering, including Americans being poisoned by fentanyl and being murdered. These human costs are real, and it’s past time for some on the left to stop pretending otherwise.”
Ugh. If she told the stories of the Rosenbergs, the assassination of William McKinley or the 1929 stock market crash those would be “correct” too, except that they also have nothing to do with Biden, his speech or his policies. Those were the matters Britt was supposedly addressing.
There was no excuse for this. There was no excuse for the tone-deafness of her presentation and amateurishness of her delivery either, but those involved poor messaging and execution. The sex-trafficking deceit was substantive and telling. Britt has been hyped as a “rising star.” That label should be dropped permanently. She made herself and her party look incompetent and dishonest. THAT was the best Republicans could muster with an opportunity to criticize Biden in an election year after another one of his divisive attack rants?
I have a smidgen of sympathy for anyone who gets their big chance on a national stage and blows it, but Britt’s flop was extraordinary. It is both appropriate and ironic that she was quickly mocked by SNL’s “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” If anyone has ever conclusively demonstrated that they weren’t ready for prime time, it’s Senator Britt.
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Pointer: valkygrrl
Ethics Alarms 
You know what I can’t figure out? How is it that all these stupid, Neanderthal mafia guys can be so good at crime and smart guys like us can suck so badly at it? (Michael Bolton, Office Space)
I think this exemplifies my contention that Republicans should absolutely forswear the tit-for-tat, descending into the muck of Democratic tactics that so many are advocating. Namely, Republicans suck at it. If Republicans are serious about fighting back, they have to do so by living up to their standards. This isn’t saying using Marquis de Queensbury rules, not by any stretch, but using Democratic tactics against them is absurd. First, Republicans don’t seem to realize that “rules for thee but not for me” is the hallmark of Democratic strategy. Republicans think that if they follow the Democrats’ lead, they’ll get the same results. They won’t, though, because the rules won’t be held the same for Republicans. It will always be a heads-I-win-tails-you-lose scenario.
So Republicans have to move away from that line of thinking. They have to do what has always actually worked in the past: tell the public what they plan to do, and follow through. It even helps when those plans are actually good ideas. But they need to build trust, build competency, and build the reputation of actually following through. I remember the Republicans showing their true colors when they had all three offices in 2017, and were completely incompetent at drafting a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. They had years to put together a comprehensive plan, and they absolutely blew it the first chance they had.
The 2024 elections are the Republicans’ to lose. And yet they are showing a Denver Broncos-like (or, since I live in Ohio now, a Cleveland Browns-like?) propensity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Don’t play silly buggers with the Democrats. Don’t play the diversity game. Don’t pander. Don’t pretend people won’t notice/will ignored/will cover up any dishonest statement. If you believe in merit, give the roles to the best for the role. Don’t say, “we’ll attract suburban moms by putting words in the mouth of someone incapable of a good delivery, but she’s a suburban mom, so it must work.”
Be honest. Be real. Give the voters something to vote FOR, instead of relying on them voting AGAINST, because it may be that people will decide that another 4 years of economic ruin under Biden is better than handing power over to a party that is just as dishonest and comes with all the chaos and baggage Trump brings.
Good to know that sex trafficking is down under Biden’s watch. I would have been woefully misled by this atrocious lie. I am confused thought why Texas ranchers are finding women’s underwear in trees on their lands.
Did Britt talk to the women? ? Yes
Did she relate a sex trafficking story? Yes
Did Britt claim that this women was victimized by cartels directly because of Biden’s policies. Not that I can tell from the text nor does Kessler say she does.
Have cartels’s been associated with sex and drug trafficking by US officials. Yes
Have cartels increased their activities in the last three years eclipsing any activity in the past? Absolutely.
Does it appear that the story was designed to create a false impression in the minds of the readers? Yes both Britt’s statements and Kessler’s. Britt’s example suggests it recently happened when it did not. Kessler frames his analysis such that readers will believe trafficking has gone down under Biden because you cannot believe Britt.
Kessler’s response is as unethical as what he condemns because he only attacks the original story, knowing many will ignore other reports of actual sex trafficking believing them to be false as well, while not providing facts that back up that allusion.
Come on. The issue is deceit. Britt’s answer was deceitful, period. It’s purpose was to impugn Biden, and it had no relevance to Biden. And that’s the message of Kessler’s column. He has no obligation to go into the sex trafficking issue. None at all. His job is to flag dishonesty. He did.
I said both sides created false impressions. Given that I chose not to watch the SOTU or the rebuttal my comments are based solely on the quote provided. All I did was to analyze what I read. Kessler chose a part of the rebuttal that focused on sex trafficking as did Britt.
Would it matter if Lakin Riley had been killed by an illegal who had been in the country before Biden took office if the current administration has halted deportations unless have been convicted of other felonies? At issue is not one particular individual’s victimization it is on the totality of the events playing out right now. Unless Britt claimed this woman was victimized because of Biden policy this not a lie. Britt’s quote specially states the woman she talked to was twelve when first trafficked. That would have been some years before Biden took office. Britt’s quote above does more to suggest that Biden’s policies “invite” the type of behavior that victimized Romero.
My question is does our current border policies invite more sex trafficking or not. If the answer is yes the Britt’s comments are not a lie or deceitful. If the answer is no, current policy is do not have the effect of increasing sex trafficking, then yes it is deceitful. I ask which is it?
Kessler, looks to find fault with those he opposes. His Pinocchio’s on Britt suggest that trafficking is a not an issue. Biden claimed 15 million jobs in three years but not a peep.
On “Fox News Sunday,” Britt did not acknowledge making any mistake or leaving a wrong impression.
NBC: “[Britt] was asked whether she meant to give the impression that the story she told about a victim of human trafficking happened during Biden’s tenure. “No,” Britt answered, adding later: “I very clearly said I spoke to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12, so I didn’t say a teenager. I didn’t say a young woman, a grown woman, a woman when she was trafficked when she was 12.”
She is denying that what she said was misleading, despite the fact that everyone who heard it was misled, including me. She’s denying that she intended to leave the impression that the woman’s story happened on Biden’s watch, in the US, because of Biden’s policies, yet she told the story while responding to a Biden speech, on the issue of illegal immigration, not sex-trafficking. She’s a weasel. Her denial is another strike against her.
As for Kessler, I don’t find anything he wrote misleading, but I also don’t care. I know he’s a biased fact-checker, but his exposure of Britt was clear and factual, and he’s not an elected official.
I live in New York State and my vote for Statewide or National elections is irrelevant. The NYC vote is what prevails. Therefore, I did not watch President Biden’s performance or Sen. Britt’s rebuttal. Consequently, my comments rely on other’s reporting. As I look at the upcoming election and the previous two congressional elections, I am struck with awe at the organization the Democrats can muster and appalled at the corresponding ineptitude and fecklessness of the Republicans. The Republicans display no organizational leadership and individual Republican politicians lack even a modicum of courage to speak out against President Biden or the Progressive steamroller embodied in academia, the media, and the current administration. During the 2016 Republican primaries, multiple candidates were vying for the nomination. Their voices have largely been absent since then. The incumbent Republicans rarely stick their heads above the lip of their foxhole. They appear afraid of the press jeopardizing their reelection if they speak out against the Progressives. The Republicans are leaderless and content to stay that way.
Sen. Britt’s deceptive sex-trafficking comment vividly demonstrates the Republican’s stupidity and ineptitude. One would think it should be relatively easy to come up with accentual shortcomings of the Biden administration. Why taint your message with deception? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Jack,
Please help wordpress hates me.
It’s up. WordPress is like an entity. It is THE BEAST!!!