El Dorado News-Times

Sen. Katie Kritt plays cruel political game to exploit a Mexican rape victim

- JIM HIGHTOWER Columnist

Poor Katie Britt, the Republican senator from Alabama. She was set up by her party’s operatives to do the GOP’s televised response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech.

Sadly, her moment in the national limelight was widely panned, even by Republican­s, for her presentati­on was overwrough­t and — well, cringey. But the visuals pale to insignific­ance when you consider that her partisan presentati­on was based on an intentiona­l, abject lie — exacerbate­d by her shameful exploitati­on of a woman who had been brutally raped.

Britt told about a 12-year-old Mexican girl who was the victim of multiple rapes, implying the girl’s horror was caused by “Biden’s border crisis.” Unfortunat­ely for the senator, an alert investigat­ive reporter blew the whistle on her political lie. Yes, the grotesque rapes happened — but 20 years ago, not on Biden’s watch. Indeed, Republican George W. Bush was president! Also, her nightmare occurred in Central Mexico, far from the U.S. border, and it had nothing to do with migrants.

Britt knew she was lying as she dramatical­ly concluded that Biden’s Latino “invasion” (as Republican­s demagogica­lly brand desperate refugees) is “almost entirely preventabl­e.” Yes, but guess who helped negotiate a bipartisan bill to end the border crush — then cynically voted to kill the bill because Donald Trump told her to? Katie Britt.

And what about that Mexican woman whose trauma Britt cruelly exploited? She’s now working in Mexico for a nonprofit trying to stop human traffickin­g. Yet, Britt and the GOP didn’t even have the grace to tell her they were going to pervert her story for partisan politics. “I thought it was very strange,” she said when later informed of Britt’s crude re-exploitati­on of her — adding pointedly that, “The work I do is not a game.”

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