Karla Jacinto Romero and Katie Britt
Even the victim in Katie Britt's elaborate sex-trafficking tale, at the heart of her Republican response to the State of the Union address, now is blasting the Alabama senator's widely criticized oratorical efforts. That is from a piece at The New Republic (TNR), under the headline "Sex Trafficking Survivor Detests Being in Republicans’ SOTU Response; Karla Jacinto Romero isn’t happy about the way Republican Senator Katie Britt used her story for the State of the Union rebuttal."
TNR reporter Paige Oamek makes it clear that Karla Jacinto Romero is not pleased with the way Britt misappropriated and misconstrued her story of gross sexual abuse at the hands of a pimp in Mexico. Writes Oamek:
The sex trafficking survivor who was mentioned by Republican Senator Katie Britt in the State of the Union rebuttal says her story was totally warped by the senator as part of an attack on Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
“I hardly ever cooperate with politicians, because it seems to me that they only want an image. They only want a photo—and that to me is not fair,” Karla Jacinto Romero told CNN on Sunday. Jacinto Romero also confirmed that no one from Britt’s team had reached out to her asking to share her story.
That suggests Britt used Romero's story without talking to her about it, and that's only the beginning of the underhanded ways Britt dealt with the matter. It also raises this question: If Britt did not get her information directly from Romero, and that's what Romero's words suggest, where did she get it? Was someone else -- perhaps from the Donald Trump campaign or the Republican Party -- involved in helping Britt disseminate false information designed to make President Joe Biden look weak on border issues? If so, did the content of Britt's tortured speech involve a conspiracy -- one that could involve criminal activity?
At the moment, we know for sure that Karla Jacinto Romero is unhappy about being dragged into Britt's narrative. Writes Oamek:
In her widely criticized State of the Union response, Britt shared the graphic story of a woman who was raped by human traffickers for years.
“When I first took office, I did something different. I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas, where I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at age 12,” Britt said in her speech, seeming to imply that this happened in the United States during Biden’s presidency.
Britt’s communications director has already stated that the woman in the story was Jacinto Romero. And Jacinto Romero, in her interview with CNN, is confirming a viral TikTok that Britt got all the dates—and some other details—wrong.
In short, Britt messed up the story big time. Was that done intentionally, perhaps at someone else's encouragement? That is one of many questions hanging out there for now. From the TNR piece:
In reality, Jacinto Romero was kept in captivity in Mexico from 2004 to 2008, when President George W. Bush was president. She was not trafficked in the United States, nor was she trafficked by drug cartels as Britt alleged in her speech, but by a pimp who kidnapped young girls.
Jacinto Romero also disputes Britt’s version of the story, which made it seem like the two women met in a private meeting.
Jacinto Romero told CNN that she actually met Britt at an anti-trafficking event last year at the southern border, with several other government officials in attendance, including Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi.
Has Britt acknowledged her screw ups and maybe apologized for them. Not on your life? Like Donald Trump himself, Britt seems disinclined to take responsibility or apologize for anything. Writes Oamek:
As these clarifications have come to light, how has Britt responded? Well, she’s doubling down of course.
When Fox News host Shannon Bream asked Britt Sunday if she meant to imply that this all happened during Biden’s presidency, Britt responded, “No. I very specifically said, ‘This is what President Biden did during his first 100 days.’ He stopped all deportations, he halted construction of the border wall and he said, ‘I’m going to give amnesty to millions.’ Those types of things act as a magnet to help more and more people here.”
She followed up that sentence with the statement, “President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace. It’s despicable. And it’s almost entirely preventable.”
Being a postmodern Republican apparently means "never having to say you're sorry." -- or admitting you were wrong and dishonest, falsely conflating the Romero horror story with Joe Biden's immigration policies -- even now that Romero says the two had nothing to do with each other, and the abuse she experienced did not happen in the United States.
Can you at least say "whoops," Katie?
Is Katie Britt's self shame done yet?
ReplyDeleteSadly, no.
Just like the Ginsu Knife guy used to say:
But Wait, There's More!
Republican self inflicted victimhood seldom has any shame.
'My heart is broken': Katie Britt sends out self-pitying cash plea after SOTU debacle https://www.rawstory.com/katie-britt-speech/
"Following my speech, the left-wing media didn't waste a second flooding the airwaves with despicable, disgusting messages about me," the senator's fundraising pitch states. "They attacked my character. They attacked my faith. They attacked my identity as a mother and a wife. My heart is broken," she added. "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 and stand up to Biden in front of millions of Americans for ME. I did it for them, for YOU and your children, Friend!"
Thanks for an informative comment. Sounds like Katie has gone into whiny mode. Is she claiming that blowback from he speech hurt her campaign cash flow?
ReplyDeleteNobody does victimhood better than hypocritical Republicans.
ReplyDeleteShe's claiming the 'left wing' blow back persecutes her for her religion and she just knows her very entitled 'married with children' self deserves so much better.
Complaining about being persecuted is always the go to defense, how many times will any of these people actually admit they screwed something up? Hell will freeze first!
Just look at what the right leaning THE Hill has on this: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4524885-republicans-say-britt-being-treated-like-sarah-palin-2-0/
This from Vin Weber: “I think Katie Britt is one of the most impressive people to come to the Senate in a long time. I think that the Democrats know that she is a rising star in the Republican Party, and if they can do something to tarnish her early on in her career, they’re going to do it,” he said.
“They don’t want to see an attractive, articulate, intelligent, rising star — a young woman, particularly — in the Republican Party,” he added.
Hmmmm. At least he didn't put the words "attractive""and "young woman" next to each other!
"Attractive, articulate, intelligent, rising star'
ReplyDeleteIs Britt any of those things, based on her SOTU speech?
(1) I don't think most Americans think lying is an attractive quality. And the woman at the heart of Britt's sex-trafficking story said Britt presented false information. Britt is down 0-1.
(2)Based on reactions of many people, her delivery of the speech was "bizarre," almost indecipherable. Britt is 0-2
(3) Did Britt come off as "intelligent in the speech from her barren kitchen? She might be intelligent; I don't know. But based on reactions of viewers, she did not come off as intelligent in this speech. Britt is 0-3
(4) Britt might be young, at 42, but her age wasn't an issue in all of this. So we will call this a draw. Britt still 0-3.
(5) We will stipulate that Britt is a woman. That leaves Britt down 1-3.
(6) I'm tired of the whole "rising star" thing. Who decided Britt is a rising star, and what is it based on? Don't you have to accomplish something to be a "rising star"? I used to live in Alabama, and I can't think of much she's accomplished, other than getting elected on Richard Shelby's coattails. We finish with Britt at 1-4, and that's being charitable.