Sen. Katie Britt's, R-Ala., official Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Thursday night turned heads — but not for any of the right reasons.
The freshman senator's high-profile rebuttal was stern in its focus on immigration and the state of the economy — two key sticking points against the president — but had a bizarre delivery, according to The Daily Beast. Its dramatic cadence and beige-toned kitchen backdrop left political operatives and observers unsure of what to make of it.
Britt's performance was so unnerving that some Republicans watched "with a grimace," the Daily Beast reports. A GOP strategist even told the outlet that gossip about Britt's delivery quickly circulated among operatives connected to Donald Trump, which could have an impact on her consideration as his running mate.
"Everyone's f—king losing it," the Republican, granted anonymity discuss private conversations, told the Daily Beast. "It's one of our biggest disasters ever."
In the minutes afterward, Britt's performance appeared to become a marked embarrassment for the Republican Party, generating widespread criticism among its pundits. Many took issue with the setting of Britt's speech: the GOP rising star gave the remarks clad in a deep-green blouse and seated at what she said was her home's kitchen table in an effort to come off as "America's mom."
“Senator Katie Britt is a very impressive person. She ran a hell of race in [Alabama],” former Trump White House advisor Alyssa Farah Griffin, who supports Nikki Haley, posted on X. “I do not understand the decision to put her in a KITCHEN for one of the most important speeches she’s ever given.”
Senator Katie Britt is a very impressive person. She ran a hell of race in AL. I do not understand the decision to put her in a *KITCHEN* for one of the most important speeches she’s ever given.
— Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) March 8, 2024
Griffin elaborated on those thoughts during an appearance on CNN late Thursday, underscoring how "the staging of this was bizarre" to her, according to The Hill.
“Women can be both wives and mothers and also stateswomen,” she continued. “So to put her in a kitchen, not in front of a podium or in the Senate chamber where she was elected where she won a very hard fought race, I felt fell very flat and was confusing to some women watching it.”
The substance of her comments was "great" the "The View" co-host added, before reiterating that the setting was "just very, very bizarre."
Alyssa Farah Griffin: "I've got to say, the staging of this was bizarre to me, women can be both wives and mothers and also stateswomen. So to put her in a kitchen... I think fell very flat and was confusing to some women watching it." @justinbaragona
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) March 8, 2024
pic.twitter.com/g6Lx0F9BQF
Olivia Perez-Cubas, Haley's former campaign spokesperson, echoed Griffin's sentiments in a post to X, writing that while Britt “is incredibly impressive, unsure why she felt the need to deliver the SOTU response from a kitchen.”
While Katie Boyd Britt is incredibly impressive, unsure why she felt the need to deliver the SOTU response from a kitchen…
— Olivia PC (@olivia_pc) March 8, 2024
Britt also appearing alone in the kitchen is "creepy," Tim Miller, a former Republican Jeb Bush aide, said on X, adding that Britt's speech made former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's notorious 2009 response to Barack Obama's State of the Union address "look like the Finest House speech."
Brendan Buck, an ex-senior advisor to Speakers John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called Britt's delivery "unfortunate," arguing on MSNBC that she "was clearly overcoached."
Britt's speech also became the subject of mockery from viewers across the political spectrum, with some dogging the showing for its apparent "tradwife" and TikTok appeal.
"Campiest, creepiest SOTU response in history?" Democratic strategist Lis Smith teased on X.
Campiest, creepiest SOTU response in history? https://t.co/Qm512fTADi
— Lis Smith (@Lis_Smith) March 8, 2024
"Sen. Katie Britt is delivering this speech with the cadence and theatrics of a TikTok video," Luke Russert, the host of "MSNBC Live," posted. "Looks like it’s written to be chopped up into 100 different social media quips."
Sen. Katie Britt is delivering this speech with the cadence and theatrics of a TikTok video. Looks like it’s written to be chopped up into 100 different social media quips.
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) March 8, 2024
Hosts and guests of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" were both stunned and amused by Britt's performance, with the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson emphasizing the difference between Britt and Biden's speeches.
"You had Joe Biden talking about fundamental rights that everyone deserves to have, that women deserve to have as human beings, as Americans," Robinson told the panel Friday morning, according to RawStory. "And you had Senator Katie Britt. For some bizarre reason, they decided to stage her in apparently her kitchen, which says a lot about how the Republican Party sees women."
He went on to describe Britt's comments as "all over the map," citing her "overdone affect" throughout and noting "one instant, she was near tears. The next instant, she was smiling. The next instant, she was serious."
Former White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri pointed out that right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk and his followers railed Britt's speech almost immediately, before explaining that the GOP rebuttal shared similarities with the conservative "tradwife" movement on social media, which sees women embracing a "traditional wife" role via embracing homemaking and being a stay-at-home mom while presenting "in a certain way."
"I feel like that is the cadence and emotion [Britt] was going for was to present as one of these TikTok moms," Palmieri said.
"You would have no idea this woman was a United States senator," she added with astonishment. You know, a Republican man might have done a speech, a response like that from his kitchen, but we would have heard something about being a United States senator and something about governing and something that resembled the truth."
Britt's performance "was just wild," Palmieri continued. "I mean, I have never — and I was reassured to see that even people on the right, people were rejecting whatever it was that they were trying to convey about women's place."
Awkward and unflattering rebuttals are par for the course as far as State of the Union responses from the opposing party's rising stars go, the Daily Beast notes. Sen. Marco Rubio's, R-Fla., awkward sip during his response speech more than a decade ago still follows him through his career.
A GOP strategist likened Britt's speech to Rubio's sip, telling the outlet that Britt's performance was not only worse but that it “lowered her stature.”
"SNL is going to have to bring back Kristen Wiig to capture this one," quipped Karen Tumulty, an associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post.
SNL is going to have to bring back Kristen Wiig to capture this one.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) March 8, 2024
