Trigger warning: discussion of sex trafficking
By now, most of us know that Alabama’s junior Senator, Katie Britt, stepped on a rake during her debut on the national stage. Three months into her term, she was tapped to deliver the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address. She was deservedly panned for a performance that made her sound like Kimberly Guilfoyle—er, Shrillfoyle—with a Southern accent. But even worse than her red meat-laden and over-the-top delivery, she used her speech to blatantly lie to the American people.
In case you missed it, Britt claimed that when she paid a visit to the border town of Del Rio, Texas shortly after being sworn in, she spoke with a Mexican woman who had been trafficked from the age of 12—and claimed Biden was to blame. But there was one big problem—it wasn’t true. Former Associated Press reporter Jonathan Katz used a simple Google search to discover the events Britt discussed actually took place between 2004 and 2008—when one George W. Bush was president.
Well, on Sunday, the woman at the center of that story, Karla Jacinto Romero, spoke up for the first time. And to put it mildly, she was not happy. Mark Sumner mentioned this in “7 stories to know,” but this merits a fuller look.
Jacinto, now an advocate for trafficking victims, sat down with CNN’s Rafael Romo, who had previously profiled her in 2017. Watch here.
Jacinto recalled that she almost never works with politicians because more often than not, they’re only interested in “an image” or “a photo,” and aren’t really interested in her story. She added that it isn’t the first time politicians have used her as a prop; Mexican politicians used her story for political gain in the past.
Jacinto describes herself as an advocate for “many victims who have no voice,” and only asks that elected officials “be empathetic” about the millions of kids who have to endure this horror. She believes Britt ought to “take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude.”
According to Jacinto, she didn’t have a one-on-one chat with Britt. Rather, she met Britt at an event on the border with several other American officials and activists. She also denied being trafficked on this side of the Rio Grande or by Mexican drug cartels. Rather, she was taken advantage of by a pimp who snookered girls like her into prostitution. She also reiterated what we now know—that her ordeal took place between 2004 and 2008, the second half of Bush 43’s term.
Britt is tripping all over herself to respond. While her spokesman denied Britt’s account was misleading, she famously conceded—on Fox News, of all places—that it didn’t take place during Biden’s tenure.
This comes on the heels of Alabama’s other Senator, Tommy Tuberville, holding up all promotions of senior officers in protest of the Pentagon continuing to allow pregnant service members leave and reimbursement for legal abortions. And now Britt has disgraced her state once again by telling a blatant lie on national television. Hopefully Britt will show the personal responsibility Republicans talk about so much and apologize.