Katie Britt plays victim and launches political fundraising after being exposed for misleading State of the Union speech

Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt sought to reply to allegations that her rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s third State of the Union address contained misleading details, launching a fundraising campaign in the wake of the widely criticized speech.

Britt, 42, who delivered a speech from her kitchen on Thursday after Biden’s speech, made questionable claims, including that Biden had stopped all deportations and halted border wall construction.

Reports indicate that Biden briefly halted construction of the wall, but his administration later ordered additional construction work on the wall. Biden tried to halt deportations of some immigrants during his first 100 days in office, but not all.

According to her, Britt began a fundraiser Down Raw Story through which she said: “After my speech, the leftist media did not waste a second in flooding the airwaves with vile and disgusting messages about me. They attacked my character. They attacked my faith. They attacked my identity as a mother and wife.”

According to Raw Story, Britt continued: “My heart is broken. Not just for myself, but for my children, your children, and the ENTIRE next generation of Americans. Why? Because I didn’t prepare a 20-minute speech for ME and oppose Biden in front of millions of Americans. I did it for them, for you and your children, Friend!”

Roger Sollenberger, senior political reporter for the Daily Beast, shared a screenshot of Britt’s fundraising email By X. The email states, in line with a screenshot: “I just provided the official Republican Party response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union and the left BELIEVES because of my message,” and a button encouraging readers to “speed up with a small donation.” . to “help Republicans win.”

One of the misleading claims in her rebuttal speech was a few woman she met who told her about her story as a survivor of human trafficking.

According to media outlets that reviewed Britt’s speech, the problem was that the senator suggested the woman had experience with human trafficking while Biden was president.

“When I came into office, I did something different,” Britt said in her speech last week, in line with a transcript With Press Association. “I went to the Del Rio sector of Texas and spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. At the age of 12, she was a victim of human trafficking by cartels. She told me not only that she was raped every day, but also how many times a day she was raped.”

In Britt’s speech, which was ridiculed during a recent episode of “Saturday Night Live,” she continues: “We wouldn’t stand for something like this happening in a third world country. This is the United States of America and it’s high time we started acting like it. President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace. It’s disgusting. And it’s almost entirely preventable.”

A journalist from the political website Talking Points Memo noted via TikTok that the portrayal of the woman Britt was talking about was not entirely accurate.

Jonathan M. Katz found evidence – including from Britt’s previous congressional testimony, Newsweek reported – that the woman Britt was likely referring to, Karla Jacinto Romero, was a victim of human trafficking in Mexico between 2004 and 2008 before the presidency Biden.

George W. Bush was president at the time and President Biden was a senator.

“These events did not take place in the United States,” Katz he said– reports “Newsweek”. “These crimes did not take place in the United States. Or even close to the border. They took place in Mexico.”

According to the daily, Jacinto Romero told CNN on Sunday that she was, in fact, a victim of human trafficking before Biden took office.

Romero also told CNN that when she met Britt, it was not a one-on-one meeting, as the senator suggested Thursday, but at an event with other anti-trafficking activists and government officials on the southern border. – the outlet reported.

The survivor also explained to CNN that rather than being trafficked by Mexican drug cartels, as Britt said in her speech, it was a pimp who began her terrifying experience of being forced into prostitution, the network reports.

During a recent appearance on Fox News, Britt was asked about the misleading story and whether she meant it took place during Biden’s presidency.

Britt replied to Fox presenter Shannon Bream: sayingand then I stumbled a little: “Well – I made it very, very clear that I talked to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12 years old. So I didn’t say teenager, I didn’t say young woman, adult woman, woman (who) was trafficked when she was 12 years old.”

She continued: “So listening to her story, she was a victims’ rights advocate who – who said, ‘that is how the drug cartels do it, that is how they make the most of women,’ and it’s disgusting.” – in line with a Fox News report.