Alabama Senator Katie Britt acknowledged on Sunday that the anecdote she used to criticize President Joe Biden’s border policies during her Republican response to the State of the Union address did not occur during his presidency.
In her remarks on Thursday, Britt recounted a woman’s harrowing experience of being “sex trafficked by the cartels starting at age 12” before condemning President Biden’s handling of the border crisis. However, during an interview with Fox News’ Shannon Bream, Britt clarified that she did not intend to give the impression that the incident took place during Biden’s tenure.
“I very clearly said I spoke to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12. So I didn’t say a teenager, I didn’t say a young woman, a grown woman. A woman, when she was trafficked, when she was 12,” Britt explained.
Freelance journalist Jonathan Katz subsequently investigated the story referenced by Britt and determined that it occurred in Mexico in the mid-2000s. Katz referenced a 2023 press release from Senator Marsha Blackburn, which detailed a trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, where Britt and other senators heard from Karla Jacinto, a survivor of human trafficking, among others.
Jacinto, who shared her story publicly in a 2015 hearing on sex trafficking, clarified that she was trafficked before Biden’s presidency. She criticized legislators for exploiting the issue of human trafficking for political gain, highlighting the lack of empathy in such actions.
Britt’s office has not yet responded to CNN’s request for comment regarding the matter. White House spokesman Andrew Bates condemned Britt’s use of “debunked lies” to oppose bipartisan border legislation, urging her to prioritize national security over political agendas.
Senate Republicans recently blocked a major bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package aimed at implementing restrictive border measures, following criticism from former President Donald Trump and top House Republicans.
