In response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday, the GOP tapped Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) to deliver its rebuttal.
The first-term lawmaker is the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the United States Senate. It was widely believed that she was chosen in an effort to appeal to women and families. Her delivery of the speech, however, left many on both sides of the aisle scratching their heads.
On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by Sara Gonzales, host of Sara Gonzales Unfiltered, and Josh Hammer, host of America on Trial with Josh Hammer, to react to Sen. Britt’s bizarre speech and the Republican Party’s inability to get out of its own way.
Who Is Katie Britt?
Prior to Thursday’s speech, Britt was widely considered a rising star in the GOP. The 42-year-old mom of two was elected to the Senate in 2022, where she serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Rules Committee, and the Banking, Housing and Urban Development Committee.
She started her career working as a press secretary in former Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby’s office before going to law school. She later returned to politics as Sen. Shelby’s chief of staff and also served as the president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told USA Today that Britt “represents the future of the Republican Party” and was chosen to deliver the speech because “she’s got young children” and “she’s a very articulate, optimistic kind of person.” Some have speculated Britt may even be on former President Donald Trump’s shortlist for vice president.
‘It Was Totally Cringe’
Britt gave her 17-minute remarks from the kitchen table of her Montgomery, Alabama, home. And while the substance of the speech sought to paint Biden as a career politician with little understanding of life for average Americans and criticize his policies on immigration, economics, crime, and foreign policy, it’s her delivery of the speech that has everyone talking.
She was widely roasted on social media for the theatrical nature of her delivery that, at one point, even appeared to include fake tears. “I agree with the people saying she looked like she was auditioning for a show on Lifetime with the drama, the fake affectation, the over-the-top portrayal of emotions I did not believe she was feeling at all, her inauthenticity,” Megyn said. “It was totally cringe.”
In Hammer’s view, this was but the latest example of the GOP not being able to get out of its own way. “For the entirety of my adult lifetime since I’ve been covering following talking about politics, the Republican Party never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” he said. “The floor here was literally to be better than the guy that we were worried about getting rushed to the ICU… and the whole thing was beyond over the top.”
Gonzales said the theatrics were so distracting she doesn’t recall anything else from the remarks. “On paper, it may have been a good speech,” she noted. “But I have no idea because I was so focused on how embarrassing it is that I have no idea whether or not it was actually something that could have resonated.”
Ultimately, Megyn said it could set back Britt’s otherwise promising political career. “She embarrassed herself, she embarrassed the Republicans, and she embarrassed women,” she concluded. “I was horrified by her performance, and I really think that it’s going to take her years to rebound from that.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Hammer and Gonzales by tuning in to episode 742 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.