By Wonderwall.com Editors
7:00am PDT, Mar 15, 2024
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Seated in her kitchen and speaking at times in a whisper with extra-long emphatic pauses, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt gave a GOP response to the State of the Union on March 7 that triggered comparisons to "The Handmaid's Tale" and reviews ranging from "deeply weird" to "creepy" to "SNL cold open"-worthy. (Scarlett Johansson ended up impersonating her on the March 9 show!)
During her spotlight moment, the junior senator called President Joe Biden "dithering" and criticized his immigration policies, which she claimed led to rapes, "fentanyl poisonings" and "horrific murders," echoing Donald Trump's "migrant crime wave" rhetoric.
It was Britt's delivery — and her kitchen backdrop — that earned the most attention, though. As she spoke, Britt's expressions and tone of voice changed dramatically and without warning from happy to sad to angry to fearful. Her voice trembled. Smiling, she said at one point, "To think what the American Dream can do … is truly breathtaking." She then paused and took a long, actual breath.
The backlash was swift and widespread.
As the senator's name began trending online, Rolling Stone reported the outlet was "inundated with messages from GOP operatives, right-leaning pollsters, conservative Capitol Hill staff and members of Trump's campaign absolutely torching" Britt for the misplaced drama.
Keep reading for more details …
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While some top Republicans, including Donald Trump, praised Britt's rebuttal, they were in the clear minority, even within GOP.
"It was one of our biggest disasters ever," an unnamed Republican strategist told the Daily Beast of the speech.
Meme-makers mashed up Britt's speech with James Lipton's famous questionnaire from "Inside the Actor's Studio," scenes from "Succession" and "Stepford Wives" references.
Social media users were more direct, with one commenter writing on C-SPAN's YouTube coverage that the speech, "was like a Stephen King demon trying to reassure everyone she was very human and not going to eat your liver when you fall asleep tonight."
Keep reading for the best reactions from Capitol Hill to Hollywood and beyond …
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Katie Britt's widely panned speech made it onto the "Saturday Night Live" cold open on March 9, with Scarlett Johansson playing the senator — complete with the kitchen background and Britt's green top and cross necklace. Johansson spoke with Britt's overly dramatic cadence and veered from one seemingly fake emotion to another as she channeled the senator's high school theater vibes. She even joked the whole thing was an audition for "the part of Scary Mom," saying, "I'll be performing an original monologue called 'This Country is Hell.'
"You see, I'm not just a senator. I'm a wife, a mother, and the craziest b**** in the Target parking lot," Johansson told the camera. "I'm worried about the future of our children, and this is why I've invited you into this strange, empty kitchen. Because Republicans want me to appeal to women voters, and women love kitchens."
She went on to reference the misleading story Britt told in her speech about having met with a woman at the border who'd been the victim of cartels' sex trafficking.
"First and foremost, I'm a mom," Johansson said. "And like any mom, I'm going to do a pivot out of nowhere into a shockingly violent story about sex trafficking. And rest assured, every detail about it is real—except the year, where it took place, and who was president when it happened."
(In the real speech, Britt used her story to suggest Joe Biden's border policies were to blame for the woman's abuse. The Associated Press and Washington Post have since confirmed the woman Britt met with testified before Congress about being sex trafficked — and it took place decades ago in Mexico.)
ScarJo's spoof also featured an HSN moment where she paused to make a sale pitch on he "gorgeous bejeweled cross necklace" she wore, assuring voters "this infinity diamond necklace goes with anything" and can even be worn "from da church to da club."
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"Katie Britt was a GREAT contrast to an Angry, and obviously very Disturbed, 'President.' She was compassionate and caring, especially concerning Women and Women's Issues. Her conversation on Migrant Crime was powerful and insightful. Great job Katie!" –Donald Trump on Truth Social
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"Senator Katie Britt is a very impressive person. She ran a hell of race in [Alabama]. I do not understand the decision to put her in a KITCHEN for one of the most important speeches she's ever given," former Trump White House communications adviser Alyssa Farah Griffin wrote on X.
"I don't know who needs to hear it but women are allowed to be places other than the kitchen," she added.
"The View" co-host also discussed the rebuttal on CNN, where she elaborated on her issue with the kitchen scenery.
"Women can be both wives and mothers and also stateswomen. So to put her in a kitchen, not in front of a podium or in the Senate chamber where she was elected, where she won a very hard-fought race, I felt fell very flat and was confusing to some women watching it," she said.
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"I guess Katie Britt just failed her vice presidential audition. Godawful." –longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone on X
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"Is this Katie Britt from Alabama about to burst into tears? … I feel like I'm watching a segment of Mad Men. … Why does Katie Britt go from smiling to being on the verge of tears and then back to some scary Steven King character?" –Joy Behar, in separate posts on X
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"That one staffer that was likely suggesting that 'maybe we don't do SOTU response in a kitchen' is having a very braggy day at work today." –former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, on X
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"If Katie Britt gets some after school acting lessons I think she's got a real shot at an ensemble role in next fall's Montgomery HS performance of Our Town." –Illinois Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat, on X
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On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow called out Katie Britt for spending most of her speech criticizing Joe Biden for being too weak on border control, given Britt's role in killing the bipartisan border bill that she helped write earlier this year.
"She was one of the Senators who was involved in the bipartisan negotiations to create a border bill. She helped create the bill. And then voted against it when Donald Trump called on Republicans to pull the plug on the bill that they themselves negotiated," Maddow said.
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"Politics is obviously theater by nature, but Katie Britt's speech Razzies-worthy monologue last night drove home the performative outrage of current conservative thinking. It's like they put a prompt into ChatGOP that said, 'Write me a speech to scare old white people.'" –Michael Ian Black on X
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"Katie Britt is so bad she couldn't be in one of my movies." –Tom Arnold on X
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"Senator Katie Britt says sexual assault is the worst thing that can happen to a woman while encouraging Americans to vote for a convicted sexual predator." –Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts on X
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"At least she didn't drink water," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who was widely mocked for the water-drinking moment in his 2013 State of the Union response, told Politico.
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"I'm sure Katie Britt is a sweet mom and person, but this speech is not what we need. Joe Biden just declared war on the American right and Katie Britt is talking like she's hosting a cooking show, whispering about how Democrats 'dont get it.'" –far-right political activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on X
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"Well, that Katie Britt experience was…experiential." –Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele on X
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@KatieBrittforAL was absolutely spot on and delivered a dynamite response to the #SOTU" –South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, on X
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"She's a mom and has young kids and wanted to give the approach of a housewife. I thought she did good for just kinda getting thrown out there. … I'm sure she'll get praise and she'll get criticism, but I thought she did good for our state," Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama told Politico.
