Republicans gave freshman Alabama Sen. Katie Britt a televised platform to counter President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night. She didn’t hold back.
“Right now, our Commander in Chief is not in command,” she said. “The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader. America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are the cornerstones of a great nation.”
The similarity between the two performances? Both were over-the-top on the shrill-o’meter. Biden yelled his way through his remarks while Britt alternated between strained smiles and grim, overwrought warnings about the state of the country and its future.
The 42-year-old mother of two spent 17 minutes blasting Biden on everything from his claims that the country is safer under his watch, to his “despicable” job handling the border crisis, to his claims that “Bidenomics” had tamed inflation.
From her kitchen table in Montgomery, Ala., Britt launched her remarks with a zinger, slamming the speech as “the performance of a permanent politician who has actually been in office far longer than I’ve been alive.”
Britt previously served as chief of staff to now-retired Sen. Richard Shelby and decided to run for his seat when he stepped down. She defeated Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama’s Senate primary in 2022 before winning the general election.
Until now, Britt has remained mostly understated, working across the aisle with some Democrats but establishing a solidly conservative voting record. Her name has been floated as a possible running mate to Donald Trump. Thursday night provided her first real spotlight on the national political stage.
The kitchen setting was designed as a prop that would play to voters’ pocketbook concerns about living under inflation. This is where she said she and her husband, Wesley Britt, a former University of Alabama football star, often discuss their myriad worries about the direction of the country under Biden’s leadership, she said.
“The American Dream has turned into a nightmare for so many families. The true, unvarnished State of our Union begins and ends with this: Our families are hurting. Our country can do better,” she said.
While some viewers on social media mocked Britt for her dramatic, breathy delivery, Trump heaped praise on her remarks as the just-right reality check on many of Biden’s boldest claims.
“Katie Britt was a GREAT contrast to Angry, and obviously very Disturbed, ‘President,’“ Trump wrote on his social media site. “She was compassionate and caring, especially concerning Women and Women’s Issues. Her conversation on Migrant Crime was powerful and insightful. Great job Katie!”
Britt deconstructed Biden’s claims in his address, starting with the border, recalling how the president unraveled Trump’s immigration policies after his inauguration.
“President Biden inherited the most secure border of all time,” she said. “But minutes after taking office, he suspended deportations, halted construction of the border wall, and announced a plan to give amnesty to millions. We know that President Biden didn’t just create this border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days.”
Britt didn’t hold back in describing the brutalities inflicted on some immigrants who made the dangerous journey to the United States and were victimized by cartel members along the way, recounting that, during a visit to the Texas border, one underage migrant told her that she had been repeatedly gang raped. She also lambasted the administration over the tragic death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley who was murdered, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela while jogging on the University of Georgia campus.
“President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace. This crisis is despicable. And the truth is that it is almost entirely preventable,” Britt said. Addressing Biden directly, she added, “Innocent Americans are dying, and you only have yourself to blame.”
But Biden’s failed policies hardly end there, Britt argued. Rejecting his claims that inflation has been cooling, dropping from 9% to 3%, “the lowest in the world and trending lower.”
“We have the worst inflation in 40 years and the highest credit card debt in our nation’s history,” she said. “Hard-working families are struggling to make ends meet today. And with soaring mortgage rates and sky-high childcare costs, they are also struggling to plan for tomorrow.”
“The American people are scraping by while the president proudly proclaims Bidenomics is working! Bless his heart. We know better,” she said. She then slammed Biden for failing to realize the economic crunch average Americans face from high groceries and near-record gas prices.
“Let’s be honest,” she said. “It’s been a minute since Joe Biden pumped gas, or a ran a carpool or pushed a grocery cart.”
Britt also impugned Biden’s claim that he’s made the country safer, arguing that the opposite is true, that Democrats have “coddled criminals,” defunded the police, and let repeat offenders walk free.
She also tried to push back against Democratic arguments that Republicans are trying to wrest away Americans’ freedom when it comes to abortion and other reproductive rights. A court ruling in Britt’s home state of Alabama deemed frozen embryos as children and put in vitro fertilization treatments in jeopardy. Republican leaders over the last two weeks have pushed back against the court’s ruling and have tried to reassure voters that those procedures, in contrast to abortion, are not threatened.
In her response, Britt tried to sell that message, saying Republicans “strongly support continued nationwide access to in vitro fertilization. We want to help loving moms and dads bring precious life into this world.”
She went on to cast Biden’s policies as not just hurting Americans at home but also making the United States “a punchline on the world stage.”
“From abandoning our allies in Afghanistan to desperate pushing another dangerous deal with Iran, President Biden has failed. We’ve become a nation in retreat,” she said. And the enemies of freedom see an opportunity.”
When it comes to China, Britt said Biden is showing his weakness, not just in his failure to stand up to Beijing, but in his actions.
“The CCP knows that if it conquers the minds of the next generation, it conquers America,” she said. “And what does President Biden do? Well, he bans TikTok for all government employees but creates an account for his own campaign. Y’all can’t make this stuff up.”
Britt agrees with Biden that the nation is at a crossroads but blames him, not his predecessor, for leading us down a dark path.
Not surprisingly, the antidote she offers is pursuing Republican policy goals and reinstalling Donald Trump as president.
“Here’s the good news. We, the people, are in the driver’s seat. We get to decide whether our future will grow brighter, or whether we settle for an America in decline,” she said. “Well, I know which choice our children deserve – and I know the choice the Republican Party is fighting for.”
Britt endorsed Trump in December, penning an op-ed for her local newspaper, arguing that “the results of his strong leadership as the 45th President of the United States are clear for all to see” after three years of Biden’s policies.
“Together, we can reawaken the heroic spirit of a great nation. Because America, we don’t just have a rendezvous with destiny, we take destiny’s hand and we lead it,” she said.