'And she believed him?' Internet mocks Katie Britt as she says Speaker Johnson reassured ‘it will be fine’ ahead of SOTU response

AUSTIN, TEXAS: In a recent episode of Senator Ted Cruz's podcast aired on Wednesday, March 13, Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala) opened up about her experience preparing for and delivering the State of the Union response last week.

Britt revealed that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) had reassured her before the delivery that "everything will be fine," despite the scrutiny and ridicule she faced afterward.

Reassurance from Speaker Mike Johnson

According to Britt, Johnson's reassurance came as she was asked to deliver the response.

“And the funny thing is he’s like, you know, ‘Don’t worry about, you know, people are going to tell you horror stories about all of these things that happen and people’s career being blown up over it,’ and he’s like, ‘It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine,’” she said.

“And he was … so kind and just and really welcoming. And you know, I think it was a great conversation. But the irony that he’s like, ‘Don’t you worry,'” she added.

Britt also shared that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) had called her before Johnson did, asking if she could deliver the rebuttal.

“And so I talked to both of them and obviously, then finally accepted doing it, but still kind of thought, ‘Is this even for real?’ I mean, I haven’t even given a floor speech yet, you know at the Senate, but was excited,” she said. “And particularly as you … mentioned earlier, being you know, the only Republican female with school-aged kids and kind of bringing that like next-generation voice.”

Social media backlash

Social media was inundated with reactions after Britt said Johnson reassured her that everything “will be fine."

"And she believed him?" one posted on X.

"You’re a grown woman. Do you take orders from little men?" another wrote.

"You are setting the cause of women back 100 years just by opening your ignorant mouth," someone else fumed.

"If she were worth her salt, she would turn this around and go after Mike Johnson," another chimed in.

From ridicule to parody

The backlash culminated in a parody of Britt's response on 'Saturday Night Live', with actress Scarlett Johansson portraying her.

Despite the mockery, Britt laughed off Johansson's portrayal and even expressed amusement at some of the memes circulating online, including one comparing her to Kate Middleton.

"One of my favorite things was there was a meme that said, 'Why is Alabama Kate Middleton so mad?'" Britt told Cruz. "And I thought, this is the highest compliment, can we print this out and frame it and put it on my desk?"

Britt said she had expected to be targeted on "SNL" but had no idea what to expect.

"I'll be honest with you, a bingo card of 2024 for Katie Britt, I did not have this on it and so certainly did not have Scarlett Johansson playing me," she said, "and I was trying, we were talking to the kids about all of it and they were like, 'Oh my gosh mom.' ... And I said, you know, 'Look it could be worse.' I mean Scarlett Johansson -- here you have Black Widow, they bring in someone from Avengers to play me in the cold open, I'm here for it."

However, despite the support from some Republicans, Britt admitted feeling overwhelmed by the scrutiny she faced in the aftermath of her response.

"It felt like the slowest couple of days in politics forever," Britt remarked. "I mean, my crime was putting too much passion, too much heart and soul behind the issues that I genuinely care about, and they slaughtered me across the airwaves."

Throughout the podcast, Cruz praised Britt and criticized President Biden's State of the Union address as "really angry" and delivered by an "old, cranky" president, ABC 7 News reported.