Britt’s Response
Well, that was something.
So, having watched the entire SOTU, I decided to also do something I haven’t done in a very long time and watch the GOP response, delivered by one of the Senators from my state of residence, Katie Britt of Alabama.
Let me note that I have long thought this is a no-win speech, regardless of party and regardless of who the president is. You are always going to be going after the most powerful person in the world who is operating on a stage that cannot be replicated. These things are mostly forgettable, except when the person giving them does something noteworthy, like Senator Rubio’s infamous water bottle bit. (And I do expect that Senator Britt is going to be a character on SNL this weekend).
While I fully understand the opposition party’s desire for screen time, and also the undeniable attraction for a rising politician to get this kind of attention, I cannot think of an example that actually led to a given politician using this speech as a catapult to higher office. Although I may be forgetting someone who was able to capitalize.
Regardless, this was a weird speech given in a very weird manner. I am trying to put my finger on the whole thing. Part of it is that it was full of weird tonal swings. For example:
More clips here, via The Intelligencer: Katie Britt’s America Sounds Scary, But Not As Scary As Katie Britt.
I do have a bone to pick with that write-up, however:
But on Thursday night, she came across as perhaps the less impressive of the two Alabama senators — and her colleague is Tommy Tuberville.
I’m sorry, but as odd as the tonal swings were in this speech, Tuberville would have been a whole other ballgame of bad.
In general, I think that she was kind of doing a more intelligent and coherent version of Sarah Palin with a dash of Trump’s “American carnage” inauguration speech thrown in, but with a smile and in a kitchen.
A few observations:
- I am very tired of the kitchen table imagery. I understand what the goal is, but it is just tiresome at this point. (Also: weird imagery to suggest that she belongs in the kitchen–and I know enough about her to know that I think this did her a disservice).
- The notion that the border problems are this scary is just pure xenophobia. Yes, what happened to Laken Riley is terrible. That it tells us anything about the border or immigration policy is nonsense. N=1 is no way to make policy.
- The IVF thing is just amazing to me. The logical consequence of the GOP position on reproduction is exactly what the Alabama Supreme Court stated: that fertilized eggs are people. For the GOP to now try and make IVF a pro-life position is utterly nonsensical within the arguments they themselves have been making for decades.
- If Britt is concerned that retirees can’t afford both food and medicine without taking on part-time jobs, then maybe we have a problem with healthcare policy in this country.
More coverage:
- AL.com did the hometown thing and provided the most positive coverage I have seen: ‘Bless his heart’: Katie Britt says ‘dithering and diminished’ Biden ‘just doesn’t get it’. (It is mostly just quotes).
- Via ABC News: ‘Nightmare’: Sen. Katie Britt paints bleak picture of America in Republican response to Biden.
- Via the NYT: Katie Britt, With a Smile and a Fierce Glare, Delivers G.O.P. Response to Biden.
In the Republican Party’s official response to President Biden’s State of the Union address, Ms. Britt delivered a jarring speech that toggled between an increasingly strained cheerfulness and a fierce glare as she gave ominous warnings about illegal immigration.
She was overcoached, over-rehearsed, and did very poorly. The weird voice thing, the kitchen, it’s all so awful.
Chasten Buttigieg posted on X: “Acting classes aren’t free, but they sure are worth it.”
The comparisons to a high school drama club audition are spot-on.
As someone who has to often watch auditions as part of my job, I can honestly say that Katie Britt’s performance last night was very typical of very bad actors doing self tape auditions.
It seems like the only person on the planet who has praised her performance is one Donald J Trump.
I believe that performance took her out of the running to be Trump‘s VP despite him liking it in real time. I believe Trump will notice the backlash, and she will be dead to him going forward.
“If Britt is concerned that retirees can’t afford both food and medicine without taking on part-time jobs, then maybe we have a problem with healthcare policy in this country.”
Or Social Security benefits need to be increased.
FWIW, the first time I ever heard of Nikki Haley was when she gave the GOP response.
Was she barefoot and pregnant? Gotta pander to the base.
There are plenty of women in government, in both parties, who know how to dress themselves in order to be taken seriously. Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, is one of them. Katie Britt is apparently not one of them.
Maybe she was going for “relatable”? “Housewife next door”?
I’m not listening to her, just looking at the photograph. Kirsten Sinema appears more weighty than Britt does here.
I just looked through other photos online, and she does a better job of looking like a senator elsewhere. So it was a choice, it seems.
Britt had a Tammy Faye Bakker style delivery that would make her a great televangelist grifter should her political fortunes fade.
@becca: Quite a few of my friends have commented on the MLM vibe. “She’s going to try and sell you protein shakes and essential oils.” “I’ll bet she has a closet of unsold LuLaRoe.” “I wonder how much Pampered Chef is in that kitchen.” Etc.
While channel surfing after I thought the SOTU was done, I caught the last of her rebuttal. No sound, just closed captioning. My first thought was “wait, that’s not Mrs. Petrie, and this isn’t The Dick Van Dyke Show.” My next thought was “boy, that kitchen needs a remodel.” Then I listened to her and realized that she needs better drugs, or I need more drugs and alcohol.
Did she volunteer for that fuster cluck, or was she drafted?
@EddieInCA: I wouldn’t be so quick to write her off as Trump’s VP. I’m not making any predictions, but will note that Trump likes damaged people around him, people who have no way up except through him (he never, never delivers for them, but desperate people, etc.) Look at Pence. The talk was that he had own-goaled so badly in Indiana he was through, and he was the subject of constant jokes because of his awkwardness and cluelessness. He wasn’t picked in spite of those qualities, but because of them coupled with the belief he would serve as bridge to evangelicals. And of course, that he was classically handsome.
Britt’s epic fail will leave her feeling unsure of herself, which is just how Trump likes him. She would provide a bridge to evangelicals. And, to a lesser extent, a bridge to some women. She’s conventionally attractive. And as important as that was for Pence, it’s even more important for a woman.
When people mention Elise Stefanik, I’m highly skeptical. She’s only average looking and carries some extra weight. I can’t see any way Trump lets her be his running mate.
There are a lot of SNL references out there. Remember that they are the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.
That performance is what I would call affected. Concerned senator is concerned!
@MarkedMan:
Also, too, a bridge to Koch money, for which he was a wholly owned subsidiary. I saw a comment this morning that what Trump needs in a veep is a bridge to some of the GOP money that was backing Haley or sitting this one out. Trump no longer needs a bridge to the evangelicals, he owns them.
Here she is in a promo for her response, where she is acting like a human being.
https://twitter.com/SenKatieBritt/status/1765944735154274774/
The contrast is shocking, and makes her performance in the response all that much weirder. Some people are naturally weird and stiff. Some people have to work at it. And look how much brighter her kitchen looks!
Alternately, someone saw that she seemed a little nervous after that promo and told her to “just act natural” so she did and she’s a lizard person.
I figure next year, the GQP won’t be footing the large Lardass legal bills, so they can take that money and invest in hiring an actor to deliver the rebuttal.
I just found out an interesting fact: Biden gave a SOTU response to Reagan in the ’80s.
@Jay L Gischer: I don’t have any axes to grind about either her or the speech, and I will agree that the kitchen table/counter set was probably a bad choice. Still, I didn’t see anything in her visual presentation that presented her as unserious. The content was unserious, but that’s not her fault either. GQP/Conservative ideas and policies are as unserious as they can possibly be and have been for a decade or three (or four or…).
@Just nutha ignint cracker: Fashion is a language. Men don’t always understand this, but most women do.
What her language says here is “I’m just some young woman talking to you”. Compare what she looks like with the main Wikipedia photographs of Kay Ivey (the governor of her state). Or Kay Bailey Hutchison (former treasurer of Texas). Hmm, or Elise Stefanik. Stefanik’s official portrait does not show her wearing a jacket, but other photos do.
I mean, the State of the Union isn’t important enough to get a bit dressed up for? Wear a jacket? Or something with a collar? A string of pearls? Anything?
I guess what she’s wearing is better than a t-shirt, but only by a little bit.
To me, what she’s wearing is the equivalent of a man wearing a polo shirt. Not complete slob, but below the cutoff for SOTU
@Jay L Gischer:
My wife’s comment was: “Was her hoodie was in the wash? Dress like a Senator, for fvck’s sake.”
I’m surprised that her cross wasn’t dripping blood considering the fear mongering that she was spouting.
@Jay L Gischer: I’m not sure that it’s as much that men don’t understand as that men DGAF, but whatevs. The set is saying “mother at home” (which may have been a mistake, but that’s what they chose). She looks the part she was cast in. On the other hand, sitting at her kitchen table in a business blazer with a blouse with a bow at the collar would have given the people for whom “fashion matters” the chance to criticize her for being overdressed. I guess your side wins either way. Congratulations.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: Men know that if in doubt, wear a suit. It’s easy, and it works anywhere you might consider a suit.
(It does not work if the question is whether to wear hip waders in the sewer, etc)
Women have many more options, and many more opportunities to get it wrong.
I thought she looked fine, for what it’s worth. Professional and respectable enough, particularly if doing the response from her home.
She sounded and acted like a complete phoney. But she looked fine (if you catch the right still image where she isn’t obviously emoting)
It might lead to better name recognition overall, which always helps. But then, the time to do the “rebuttal” would be when the aspiring politico is planning to run for a certain office.
And with trickle-down economics, the decline of employer pension plans, tax policy, etc.
@Gustopher: And the message was a dog’s dinner of misrepresentation, bigotry, and faulty reasoning/policy. How she was dressed? Obama wore a tan suit, too. How outrageous! Didn’t care then; don’t care now.
ETA: I’ll also agree that she can’t act. Don’t particularly care about that either, though.
I have a fairly close relative who fought at Frozen Chosin. Probably as bloody of a battle as has ever been fought. Yet somehow I have never thought of myself as being “steeped in the blood of patriots.”
Does she have a “Blood & Soil” t-shirt in her closet?
Watching this bizarre paean to motherhood, I can’t help but think that every mentally ill & disabled person that Republicans have fought so had to deny help to is a mother’s son or daughter.
Every single one.
Britt’s affect is a fundamentalist Christian thing.
Here is the most complete explanation that I’ve found so far.
Britt’s graphic human trafficking story made it sound like this victim she had talked to who was raped every day was someone she had recently met and who had confided to Britt her story.
Actually she was referring to Karla Jacinto Romero, who this actually happened to — in 2004-2008, when W was president. AND it happened in Mexico, so neither Joe Biden nor George Bush could have intervened.
Was she not trying to convince us that this story was somehow Biden’s fault? She’s so dishonest, just like so many of her churchlady ilk.https://www.antislavery.ac.uk/items/show/139
@Gavin: Thanks! Interesting article. I will also note in passing that “Kelly Johnson” didn’t register for me. In finding the name, I came across a comment where Speaker Johnson noted
and Johnson subsequently noted
For a fundy of my generation, that comment makes a “what’s wrong with this picture” question, even though I, too, am divorced (as are more than a few of my peers from the Baptist church in which I grew up). I hope that covenant marriage continues to work for them and not fault any attempts to blunt the effects of easy divorce–an idea whose time, warts and all, has still come just the same.
Scarlett Johansson perfectly nailed what this came across as
@anjin-san:
The thing that really pisses me off about people who use this “blood” terminology is that most of them have, at the minimum, never stood a watch. They just blather on about blood and patriotism and then lay their heads down on a nice, soft pillow at night. They know nothing about the 0000-0400 or 0400-0800 watch.