Alabama Senator Katie Britt faced a challenging interview on Fox News Sunday where the freshman Republican was confronted for inaccurately implying that President Joe Biden’s immigration policies were connected to a harrowing decades-old human trafficking story. Despite efforts by the moderator to clarify the timing and implication of the story Britt told during her State of the Union rebuttal, the senator remained evasive and defended her narrative, leading to criticisms of exploiting a tragic experience to make a political point.
During the interview, Shannon Bream, the host, directly questioned Britt’s implication, asking, “Did you mean to give the impression this horrible story happened on President Biden’s watch?” The Senator sidestepped the question, instead criticizing the Biden administration’s immigration policies and suggesting human trafficking has increased under his watch. Britt stated, “The liberal media needs to pay attention to it because there are victims all the way coming to the border, there are victims at the border, then there are victims all throughout our country.”
Britt’s comments refer to the story of Karla Jacinto Romero, who was trafficked and assaulted in Mexico between 2004 and 2008, a period during which George W. Bush was president, not Biden. After further pressing by Bream, Britt maintained her stance without directly admitting any wrongdoing, saying, “I very clearly said I spoke to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12.”
Britt’s speech drew a sharp rebuke from the White House. Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates accused her of telling “more debunked lies to justify opposing the toughest bipartisan border legislation in modern history.” He called on the Senator to prioritize national security over rhetoric by not “choosing human smugglers and fentanyl traffickers over our national security and the Border Patrol Union.”
Britt defended her use of the graphic story from the past by claiming that such incidents are happening “now at an astronomical rate” and that it was essential to “bring attention to it.” The trafficked woman, Romero, had testified before Congress in 2015 about her harrowing experiences in Mexico, not the United States.
Republicans have frequently criticized Biden’s border management, claiming he has failed to halt widespread migrant crossings along the southern border. The Biden administration has responded by stating that Congress has not been willing to act since the bipartisan border agreement collapsed, and the president is reportedly contemplating executive action to discourage migration.
Relevant articles:
– Fox News Confronts Katie Britt on Falsely Connecting Biden to Sex-Trafficking Story
– Katie Britt Says She Knew Sex-Trafficking Incident Didn’t Happen Under Biden, Forbes, Sun, 10 Mar 2024 16:09:51 GMT
– Sen. Katie Britt attempts to clean up her misleading State of the Union response, NBC News, Sun, 10 Mar 2024 16:17:14 GMT
– Britt defends use of graphic sex-trafficking story from 20 years ago to attack Biden, The Washington Post, Sun, 10 Mar 2024 17:31:14 GMT