’To put her in the kitchen ...’: Alyssa Farah Griffin reacts to Katie Britt’s response

At this time, our commander in chief is not in command. The free world deserves better than a faltering and diminished leader. America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are indeed the cornerstones of a great nation. Republican

response

from Alabama junior senator Katie Britt. She is 42 years old. She is the former chief of staff to one of Alabama's former senators, Richard Shelby. And this is the job that the senators of the Republican Party have entrusted to him. Caitlin Collins, fellow University of Alabama graduate. What can you tell us about Ms.

Britt and what does she think of her

response

? Well, I'll tell you why the Republicans elected her. She was elected because she is the youngest woman elected, the youngest Republican woman elected to the Senate. They believe that her being half Biden's age would be an effective response to also having her at the

kitchen

table talking about

kitchen

table issues, where they feel President Biden is the weakest. . And also the moment in Alabama, of course, when no one could ignore the Republicans. Sarah Benson fights to protect IVF and see clinics open. I think a question also is that she's on Trump's VP short list.

I think after that, the question will be whether Republicans felt that she had seized the moment to respond to a very impassioned speech by Biden and his powerful speech in which he addressed issues like the border and the crime that you mentioned there. I think that's going to be the big question: whether Republicans feel like she seized the moment. I will tell you that I spoke to several Republicans on Capitol Hill today who were looking forward to this. And obviously also, I must point out, it is always a thankless task. In fact, it is a thankless task and also very difficult to give a speech basically alone in your kitchen.

It's much easier for politicians to do it in a room where they can face the crowd, Anderson. Jake, thank you very much. Here with the panel in New York. Melisa, what do you think? So listen, Katie Brett, a rising star, no doubt, among Republicans. I think it was a smart choice. She is someone who is an incredibly impressive person. She ran a smart race at Alabama. But I must say that the staging was strange for me. Women can be both wives and mothers and also statesmen. So, putting her in a kitchen, not in front of a podium or in the Senate chamber where she was elected after running a very close race, I think she felt very flat and confusing for some women who watched it.

I think it was a missed opportunity. I think her focus on the border, on the economy, that's what Republicans wanted to hear, the substance of her comments. Excellent. The staging is very, very strange. I want to play two clips from President Biden's speech where I think some of the chemotherapy was done and we talked about this. He had done it in the last State of the Union, where he was trying to get a response from Republicans. One refers to taxes and the other to immigration. Let's play them one after another. The January 6 lies about the 2020 election and plots to steal the election posed a major and serious threat to American democracy since the Civil War.

But they failed. America stirred, stood firm, and democracy prevailed. We must be honest. It is necessary to defend the threat to democracy. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6. I won't do that. Political violence has absolutely no place. Nowhere in the United States. Zero place. In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we have ever seen. Oh, don't you think so? Oh, you don't like that, Bill, huh? That the conservatives got together and said it was a good bill.

I will be damned. That is incredible. There were a few where we played on the wrong side first, but then that was their thing. Do you think that was effective, David? Yes, I do. First of all, I think he knew that was going to happen and he was ready to do it. And he did it because there is an enormous amount of hypocrisy associated with what happened. James Lankford is, in fact, one of the most conservative members of Congress. He spent months assiduously negotiating what would have been the toughest border bill in decades. And then he became contaminated.

It collapsed, as the president said, because Donald Trump wanted it to collapse. So he knew that this moment was going to provoke a response. And he meant exactly what he said. But it has nothing to do with the current problem and how we got here in the last three years on day one, repealing all of Donald Trump's immigration policies through executive action, and with the idea that after three years of telling him to the American people that the border was safe after unleashing this on the American people that day and then saying, well, we didn't pass this, it's all there.

Not that you know, I understand that you feel what you feel and you're probably right. This is a good issue for Republicans, but the public really wants answers. This was an answer and Tronc rejected it. But does he think the public believes Joe Biden has the answer? I think the public believes the bill. I think if they saw the details of the bill and the specifics of it, they would say, yes, those are good things and we should do it. And in fact, you would have said that too if you had been asked about this before it became an issue that Trump withdrew the report on it.

For as long as Joe Biden has been president, people have been saying that he is cowering to the left. It's too progressive. On an issue that Republicans say they care about, tonight he introduced one of the most conservative bills possible in the House. One of his points of interest, the most conservative senators, says that is true. Yes. Which took some courage because I'm sure he knew the camera would be pointed at him. So you're really discounting what you're saying now is that that bill would have solved the problem. And if you want to be the one who says you want to advance the future, then you have to solve the problems.

But that's not what's happening. And the person in it. Know. Wait, let me finish. The person at the top of your ticket does not solve problems. He creates chaos. He tells people not to do his job. And that's what happened with the immigration bill. And the president, Joe Biden, is allowed to denounce it. So President Biden created the crisis, he only went to the border because Governor Abbott gave some immigrants options to go to Democratic cities and elevate this issue to a national issue. And now, in the last minute and right before the fourth quarter, right before the end of the game, we, there's a bill on the table.

You can't put the bill on the table. If there is a bill on the table that would solve it or at least help address it. Everyone agreed until Trump came along and said no. I see it a little differently in the sense that there is a problem there and there has been a problem there for a while. It has gotten worse. I mean, everyone has a number that is too much. We hit our numbers, Democrats, and couldn't find a partner. And I think that's not good. You wouldn't take yes for an answer. And I'm glad Biden called you.