The youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate, and the first from Alabama, chose a long-sleeved green blouse for the most important speech of her political career. Her centerpiece was the crucifix pendant she hung from her necklace, which occasionally blinked when Senator Katie Britt shifted her weight. This was no coincidence: what better way to communicate trustworthiness to evangelical voters than a cross?
Britt's melodramatic presentation of the State of the Union rebuttal last week was widely criticized on social media and parodied on “Saturday Night Live.” And then, of course, there was Karla Jacinto.
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LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports, and living life in America.
“When I first took over, I did something different,” Britt said. “I traveled to the Del Río section of Texas, where I spoke with a woman who shared her story with me. She had been a victim of sex trafficking by the cartels since she was 12 years old.” The senator suggested this had happened in the United States, adding: “President Biden's border crisis is a disgrace. It's despicable. And it is almost totally preventable.”
But Britt wasn't being completely honest. about the story of that 12-year-old girl. Jacinto, an activist who has been sharing her story since long before Britt took office, said she met with the Alabama senator in a group with other officials, not individually. She said she was trafficked in Mexico, far from the U.S. border. And she said this happened between 2004 and 2008.
In other words, the woman sitting in the kitchen with the cross shining on her neck lied.
After the truth came out, Britt hopped on Fox News to do damage control, still looking like a live-action Hallmark Card and apparently hoping that the veneer of compassion could cover the traces of her political miscalculation.
Premiering his one-man show right before Oscar weekend was a bold choice on the senator's part. But misusing a woman's personal horror as a prime-time political quip is beyond bold; It is deeply disturbing.
The question for evangelical voters who make up much of the Republican base is how much more politics can trump morality in the name of whatever conservatism means. Politico reported Monday that an evangelical group is spending more than $60 million to get a twice-impeached and repeatedly impeached former president back into the White House, so maybe that's our answer.
The whole “moral majority” movement in conservative politics always involved theater and cosplay. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took it to a new level by showing Hunter Biden's sexting photos during a House committee hearing. And now the future of the Republican Party is sitting in a kitchen pretending to speak honestly to voters of faith while telling a lurid lie for political purposes.
“I work as a spokesperson for many victims who have no voice” Jacinto told CNN. “I would really like… all the governors, all the senators, to be empathetic with the issue of human trafficking because there are millions of girls and boys who disappear all the time, people who are really trafficked and abused, like she said. [Britt] mentioned. and I think she [Britt] “We should first take into account what is really happening before telling a story of that magnitude.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was able to take repeated gulps from a water bottle during another infamous State of the Union rebuttal because someone was on set to hand it to him. Producers tell you what colors and patterns to use. Camera operators remind you where to look. Nothing that happened during Britt's rebuttal was a coincidence.
Jacinto's story was not difficult to find. But it seems as if everyone involved in producing the senator didn't believe anyone would bother to watch.
The consequences are an embarrassment and a setback for Britt, but ultimately unlikely to cause him any serious political damage. The leader of her party is facing an imminent trial for paying money to an adult film actress and has been found responsible for sexual abuse, so, yes, Britt will probably be fine.
The same cannot be said of his party's claim to some kind of true moral authority.
