Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt responded Wednesday to Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of her on “Saturday Night Live” during the “Verdict” podcast with Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Britt faced jokes and criticism after her Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 7, with numerous conservative critics calling out the senator for her overly dramatic delivery. She told Cruz that she was “pretty pumped” over Johansson’s SNL portrayal.
Sen. Katie Britt delivers the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address pic.twitter.com/x7mDzO1sWP
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) March 10, 2024
“I’ll be honest with you, a bingo card of 2024 for Katie Britt, I did not have this on it and so certainly did not have Scarlett Johansson playing me,” she told Cruz. “And I was trying, we were talking to the kids about all of it and they were like, ‘Oh my gosh mom.’ … And I said, you know, ‘Look it could be worse.’ I mean Scarlett Johansson — here you have Black Widow, they bring in someone from Avengers to play me in the cold open, I’m here for it.” (RELATED: CNN Panelist Says Republican SOTU Response ‘Fell Flat’ With Women Because Katie Britt Was ‘Put’ In Kitchen)
Britt’s speech, set in a kitchen, drew harsh criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
“Senator Katie Britt is a very impressive person,” former Trump White House aide Alyssa Farah Griffin posted on X. “I do not understand the decision to put her in a *KITCHEN* for one of the most important speeches she’s ever given.”
“This speech is not what we need,” founder & CEO of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, Charles Kirk, wrote. “Joe Biden just declared war on the American right and Katie Britt is talking like she’s hosting a cooking show.”
“If Katie Britt gets some after school acting lessons I think she’s got a real shot at an ensemble role in next fall’s Montgomery HS performance of Our Town,” Democratic Illinois Rep. Sean Casten posted on X.
Aside from Johnsson’s impersonation, the senator also reacted to the memes that surfaced after her rebuttal. “One of my favorite things was there was a meme that said, ‘Why is Alabama Kate Middleton so mad?’” Britt told Cruz. “And I thought, this is the highest compliment, can we print this out and frame it and put it on my desk?”