Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told her that everything “will be fine” before she presented the State of the Union response last week, which has since been mocked online.
Britt spoke with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on his latest podcast episode, which aired Wednesday, about her experience preparing for the reply and the scrutiny that followed it. She claimed Johnson contacted her to inquire whether she could provide the response and assured her she had nothing to worry about.
“And the funny thing is he’s like, you know, ‘Don’t worry about, you know, people are going to tell you horror stories about all of these things that happen and people’s career being blown up over it,’ and he’s like, ‘It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine,’” she said.
“And he was … so kind and just and really welcoming. And you know, I think it was a great conversation. But the irony that he’s like, ‘Don’t you worry,’” she added.
In addition to Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also reached out to her before the request for the rebuttal. Upon receiving this unexpected call, she felt a sense of disbelief, almost as if she was disconnected from her own body. McConnell inquired about her ability to deliver the rebuttal, and although taken aback, she requested some time to contemplate his proposal.
“I had conversations with both of them and eventually agreed to do it, but part of me couldn’t believe it was happening. I mean, I haven’t even given a floor speech at the Senate yet. But I was excited,” she shared. “Especially because, as you mentioned earlier, I am the only Republican female with school-aged kids, and I feel like I can bring a fresh, next-generation perspective.”
Britt faced significant backlash and scrutiny for her response to President Biden’s State of the Union address. Many criticized her for what they considered an unnatural delivery. The portrayal of Britt by actress Scarlett Johansson in the “Saturday Night Live” cold open further mocked the junior senator, particularly for delivering her response from her kitchen table.
Britt found Johansson’s parody of her to be quite amusing. She expressed her excitement, stating that she was “pretty pumped” that the actress portrayed her on “Saturday Night Live.”
“And I was like, you know, it could be worse. I mean, they got Scarlett Johansson to play me in the cold open. You know, the one from ‘Avengers’ and ‘Black Widow.’ I gotta admit, I’m totally here for it,” she exclaimed.
