As President Joe Biden mingled on the House floor following his State of the Union address Thursday night, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) gave the official Republican response, a stern but bizarrely delivered rebuttal that focused heavily on immigration and the economy.
The freshman senator is considered a rising star in the party. But her speech’s intense tone—with an over-the-top dramatic cadence that was delivered in a kitchen—left political operatives and observers struggling to make sense of it.
The performance was so bad that some Republicans watched the high-profile speech with a grimace. A GOP strategist told The Daily Beast that Britt’s delivery quickly became a gossip item Thursday night among operatives connected to Donald Trump—something that could have potential implications for her consideration as a vice presidential pick on the 2024 ticket.
“Everyone’s fucking losing it,” this Republican said, requesting anonymity to discuss private conversations. “It’s one of our biggest disasters ever.”
Several popular social media influencers in the MAGA camp also panned the speech; the account Catturd tweeted Britt was "awful" to his 2.4 million followers.
The setting of the kitchen table—more so the kitchen than the table—for Britt’s speech also left some seasoned Republican strategists confused.
“Senator Katie Britt is a very impressive person. She ran a hell of race in [Alabama],” Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump White House communications adviser and Nikki Haley supporter 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.”
Olivia Perez-Cubas, the former spokesperson for Haley’s 2024 presidential bid, also said in a post on X that while Britt “is incredibly impressive, unsure why she felt the need to deliver the SOTU response from a kitchen.”
Tim Miller, the former Jeb Bush aide turned ex-Republican, called the kitchen setting “creepy” and said it made former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s much-maligned response to Barack Obama in 2009 “look like the Finest Hour speech.”
Brendan Buck, a former senior adviser to Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), also acknowledged that Britt’s “delivery was unfortunate.”
“She was clearly overcoached,” Buck said on MSNBC.
Britt went for a dramatic performance with her State of the Union rebuttal, casting Biden as a failed president and arguing that the GOP was the best option for regular working families.
But the senator's delivery turned out to be so dramatic that it ended up being distracting at best and disingenuous at worst.
Allie Beth Stuckey, a conservative commentator, posted on X Friday morning that Britt had genuine appeal in coming across like "the moms at the school drop off" and praised the kitchen setting.
"But the delivery was parody-level terrible, and I promise that didn’t sway any of those suburban moms we’re trying to reach," Stuckey wrote.
State of the Union responses from rising stars in the opposing party are notorious for generating awkward, unflattering moments that can follow a politician through an otherwise solid career. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is still remembered for awkwardly taking a sip of water during his response speech over a decade ago.
The GOP strategist who called Britt's performance a disaster likened it to Rubio’s water moment—but they said Britt was actually worse and that she “lowered her stature” in doing it.
A Britt spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
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Did Kate have emergency brain surgery?
Remember this?
Back in 2011, Kate was suspected of wearing hair extensions.
The spokesmen at St. James Palace--clearly better than the current crop at Kensington Palace--said it was a scar.
Shimmering in silver, the Duchess of Cambridge conducted her first solo engagement as a royal yesterday – and displayed a hitherto unknown childhood secret.
Underneath Kate’s stylish half-up, half-down hairstyle a prominent three-inch scar could be seen on the side of her left temple.
A spokesman for the Duchess at St James’s Palace confirmed last night that it was the result of surgery as a young child. ‘The scar related to a childhood operation,’ they said.
The palace declined to discuss what kind of operation because it was, they said, a private matter.
Senior royal sources also confirmed that it had been ‘a very serious operation’ but declined to comment further.
Some people speculate that Kate had a VP shunt placed during this surgery.
What Is a VP Shunt?
A ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt is a thin plastic tube that helps drain extra cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the brain. CSF is the saltwater that surrounds and cushions the brain and spinal cord.
Why Are VP Shunts Placed?
VP shunts are placed to treat hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus (hi-droh-SEF-eh-less) happens when CSF does not drain out of the hollow spaces inside the brain (called ventricles) as it should. VP shunts drain the extra fluid and help prevent pressure from getting too high in the brain.
How Do VP Shunts Work?
Most shunts have two catheters (small, thin tubes) connected by a valve. One end of the upstream catheter is in a ventricle. The other end of the downstream catheter is in the peritoneal (pair-et-NEE-ul) cavity. This is the space inside the belly where the stomach and the bowels are. The shunt is all inside the body, under the skin.
The valve opens when the pressure in the brain gets too high. This lets fluid drain from the brain into the peritoneal space. From there, the extra fluid is absorbed into the bloodstream.
[...]
Are There Any Risks From VP Shunts?
VP shunts are generally safe, but there are some risks during and after the surgery. There can be bleeding, or an infection can develop.
VP shunts do not work forever. When the shunt stops working:
* The child can have another buildup of fluid in the brain.
* Another surgery is needed to fix it.
Problems with a VP shunt happen even with regular care and at unpredictable times. The shunt can get worn out or move as a child grows.
A shunt also can get infected, which can be very serious. It's important for families to follow the surgeon's instructions for when to call and when to go to the ER. This way, treatment for an infected or worn-out shunt can start as soon as possible.
Rebecca English's article continues:
John Scurr, consultant surgeon at the Lister Hospital in London, said it was unlikely to have been the result of a tumour.
‘I really doubt it was any serious medical condition and I would say it is as a result of an arteriovenous malformation – a birthmark – being removed, ‘ he said.
‘It is remarkable, given the measurement, that no-one has noticed before.’
Katie Nicholl has a different surgery story regarding Kate when she was at Marlborough:
In her book Kate: The Future Queen, royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl relays the story, which is just terrifying. Apparently, during Kate's time at Marlborough, she discovered a lump on the left side of her head. The school called Kate's mom, who promptly took her to the doctor. That doctor ordered an emergency operation to remove the lump.
"I can remember the incident and her having an operation," Ann Patching, who worked at Marlborough for years, told Nicholl. "I don’t recall anything happening on the hockey pitch [field] that had anything to do with the lump. Catherine had the operation during her term time. She was back at school very soon afterwards. As usual, nothing was too much of a big deal for her. You could never accuse Catherine of being a drama queen, but Carole was very worried, as any mother would be."
The evidence of Kate's emergency operation is still around today, in the form of a scar on her hairline that you can still spot in pictures of the Duchess.
So, is the real medical issue that Kate had an emergency admission to a hospital on 28 December 2023? Had an emergency operation and then went home thinking everything was fine.
Then a few weeks later she had serious, post-op complications and had to go back into have things re-done at The London Clinic? In an emergency situation?
That the Spanish reporter was correct she was in a coma, intubated, and with doctors fearing that she would die?
"Water on the brain," aka hydrocephalus is a serious issue and can kill.
Of course, still have to wonder if there were prior contributing factors such as "overwork."
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"Pidge, you've been in the lab for ten hours." Lance clapped his hands to draw her attention away from the holoscreen.
She hunched her shoulders and leaned closer to the screen, fingers swiping and rearranging code. "Almost done."
"You said that three hours ago. When's the last time you ate?"
She paused and shot him a guilty glance over her glasses. "I dunno."
"You haven't eaten since breakfast, have you?"
"Mmmm, may-be?"
He stalked over to the workstation. "That's it. We're going home." He gently but firmly collected her in his arms, all while she reached toward the keyboard like a child pulled from a favorite toy.
"Nooo!" she protested.
"Yes."
"Unhand me, you fiend!" She glowered at him.
"You love this fiend. Kiss me."
"No. No kisses for you. You're impeding the advancement of science. Luddite."
"That's Mr. Luddite to you. Kiss me anyway."
Surrendering, because she always did, she kissed him, although she punctuated the kiss with a playful nip to his lower lip.
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