Katie Britt’s embarrassing rebuttal shows why GOP is losing women voters: analysis

12 March 2024

Sen. Katie Britt's (R-Alabama) melodramatic rebuttal to President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union speech has been drawing scathing criticism from both the left and the right.

Jimmy Kimmel, during the Oscars, slammed Britt as an "adult woman with the brain of a child." And the Alabama senator was mocked unmercifully when actress Scarlett Johansson portrayed her during "Saturday Night Live's" opening sketch on March 9.

On SiriusXM, right-wing pundit and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly attacked Britt's rebuttal as "cringe," saying, "She embarrassed herself. She embarrassed the Republicans, and she embarrassed women. It was a disgrace. I was horrified by her performance."

In a biting column published on March 11, the Washington Times' Karen Tumulty argues that Britt's rebuttal underscores the sexist view that Republicans have of women.

"Practically from the moment freshman Sen. Katie Boyd Britt began delivering the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union address," Tumulty explains, "it was clear where things were headed: straight to a cold-open parody on 'Saturday Night Live.' The 42-year-old, a rising star in her party, was to be presented as 'America's mom,' according to talking points that were sent around to conservative influencers before she spoke from her pristine kitchen."

Tumulty adds, "As her fellow Alabama senator, Tommy Tuberville, explained, 'She was picked as a housewife, not just a senator.' A housewife? Britt is a lawyer, one who served on Capitol Hill as chief of staff to her predecessor, Richard C. Shelby; who headed Shelby's task force on judicial nominations; and who was deputy manager and communications director of his reelection campaign."

The Washington Post columnist goes on to say that the way in which Britt "was presented to a national audience…. says a lot about why the GOP struggles to connect with suburban women."

"Her breathy, overwrought delivery would have embarrassed any self-respecting high school drama club," Tumulty laments. "And the setting sent another message that was not helpful at a moment when Republicans are trying to shake their image as a party that wants to send women backward in time."

Tumulty adds, however, that although Britt's SOTU rebuttal was an "epic fail," it did get a rave review from the person who matters most in 2024's Republican Party: Donald Trump.

"What didn't disappoint was 'Saturday Night Live,'" the columnist writes. "Scarlett Johansson, playing Britt, nailed the show's opening, capturing the senator's weirdly manic enunciation and declaring that she was 'auditioning for the part of Scary Mom'…. Britt might find solace in the fact that she received at least one boffo review."

Tumulty continues, "'She was compassionate and caring, especially concerning Women and Women’s Issues,' Trump wrote on his social media site. 'Her conversation on Migrant Crime was powerful and insightful. Great job Katie!' In MAGA world, there's no higher praise and no audience more important to please."

Karen Tumulty's full Washington Post column is available at this link (subscription required).

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