White House hits Britt on border security, abortion rights after State of the Union response

The White House on Thursday hit Alabama Sen. Katie Britt (R) over her stances on the bipartisan border deal and reproductive rights issues after her State of the Union response.

Britt, in her response, criticized President Biden for the situation at the U.S. southern border, for high prices at the grocery store and gas station, and for crime in cities.

“President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace. This crisis is despicable, and the truth is, it is almost entirely preventable,” she said.

The White House called her out for opposing last month’s bipartisan border deal, which was negotiated by a group of senators and endorsed by the White House. Biden blamed Republicans in his address earlier Thursday for killing that legislation, reiterating his calls for them to pass it.

“Last month, Senator Britt sided against President Biden, the Border Patrol Union, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by opposing the toughest bipartisan border deal in modern history — instead voting with fentanyl traffickers,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said.

He also noted Britt’s home state of Alabama is at the forefront of the abortion rights battle after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that embryos are children, which led to multiple in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics closing. In her speech, Britt said she supports IVF.

“What’s more, because an extreme Supreme Court decision overturned Roe v. Wade and set American women back nearly 50 years — with Senator Britt’s support — women across Alabama were just cut off from IVF treatment and dreams of growing their families,” Bates said.

Bates also hit Republicans, after Britt’s response, for wanting to repeal Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and for not passing additional aid to Ukraine amid the Russia invasion.

“Tonight the American people heard President Biden’s vision for the future in which our core freedoms are restored, the middle class is the center of our economy, and our nation is more secure; not an America that is dragged backwards by extremists whose only economic principle is that the rich come first and everyone else is left behind,” Bates said.

“Senator Britt just proved all of his points,” he added.

Meanwhile, Britt, 42, hit Biden, 81, for being a “permanent politician” and for being in office for longer than she has been alive.