Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) defended the choice to deliver her State of the Union response from her kitchen on Thursday, saying it focused on “kitchen table issues” after being criticized as in poor taste.
Britt’s State of the Union featured the accomplished senator portrayed as a motherly figure, compared to more traditional presentations by previous male speakers.
“Republicans care about kitchen table issues,” she said in a “Fox News Sunday” interview with Shannon Bream. “We care about faith, family, we care about freedom. We are the ones talking about the economy and the real effects of that.”
Former Trump White House aide Farah Griffin labeled the staging for the speech as “bizarre” given her stature.
“Women can be both wives and mothers and also stateswomen,” Griffin said. “So to put her in a kitchen, not in front of a podium or in the Senate chamber where she was elected where she won a very hard fought race, it fell very flat and was confusing to some women watching it.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) backed up Britt on Friday, saying she was “picked as a housewife, not just a senator.” That response was hit with critiques of sexism.
Britt’s awkward delivery and kitchen locale were also the butt of Saturday Night Live’s cold open, with Scarlett Johansson mocking the senator.
