Internet divided as White House hits back at Katie Britt over ‘debunked lies’ in SOTU speech rebuttal

WASHINGTON, DC: Sen Katie Britt (R-Ala) came under fire from the White House on Sunday, March 10, when many news outlets questioned the veracity of her remarks during her reply to President Biden's State of the Union address.

According to The Hill, Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement, "Instead of telling more debunked lies to justify opposing the toughest bipartisan border legislation in modern history, Senator Britt should stop choosing human smugglers and fentanyl traffickers over our national security and the Border Patrol Union."

White House criticizes Katie Britt for ‘debunked lies’

Bates added, "Like President Biden said in his State of the Union, ‘We have a simple choice: We can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it.’"

Britt criticized Biden's management of the southern border for the most of her answer. To support her argument, he recounted meeting a woman at the border between the United States and Mexico, who told her her story of being trapped in a cartel-run sex trafficking operation, beginning when she was twelve.

Britt said about the Thursday night, March 7 speech, "We wouldn’t be OK with this happening in a third-world country. This is the United States of America, and it’s past time we start acting like it. President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace."

However, independent journalist Jonathan Katz was the first to disclose that the woman Britt was referring to had nothing to do with the practices of the Biden administration and that she had not been abused in the United States. It was verified by the Associated Press, Washington Post, and other media houses that Karla Jacinto Romero—who testified before Congress in 2015 about being forced to work in Mexican brothels from 2004 to 2008—was the subject of Britt's story.

Although Britt's representative denied that the senator used deceptive language, she did acknowledge to those publications that she was referring to Romero, whom she met while visiting the border in 2023.

The bipartisan border security plan that would have stopped 'catch and release' practices, strengthened limits on asylum requests and the number of immigrants who might enter the nation, and given more resources to Border Patrol, was opposed by Britt and other Republicans, which has drawn criticism from the White House.

Internet stays divided as White House slams Katie Britt

Netizens offered diverse opinions as the White House took a jibe at Britt.

A user posted on X, "K. Britt likely to face more hurdles than opportunities," while another mentioned, "The woman in question was in fact violated. That is not debunked. It happened. What is in question is the timing, when it happened."

Someone else wrote, "Republicans couldn't care less about lies. They are no longer even trying to find out any truth. They just want to campaign on outrage and fear. If someone calls out their lies then they just claim the fact-checkers are Leftists," while one mentioned, "They must have missed the hour-plus introductory speech."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.