Sex-trafficking survivor rips Sen. Katie Britt for using her story in SOTU rebuttal
The woman whose horrifying sex-trafficking story was used by Sen. Katie Britt during her State of the Union rebuttal last Thursday ripped into the legislator for using her experience to make a political point.
Karla Jacinto Romero, who Britt’s (R-Ala.) communications director confirmed was the victim the senator referenced in her speech, vented her frustration with politicians.
“I work as a spokesperson for many victims who have no voice, and I really would like them to be empathetic: all the governors, all the senators, to be empathetic with the issue of human trafficking because there are millions of girls and boys who disappear all the time,” Romero told CNN.
“People who are really trafficked and abused, as she mentioned. And I think she should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude.”
Britt, 42, has come under fire for referencing Romero’s sexual assaults, with critics arguing the senator appeared to link the story to President Biden’s border policies — even though Romero was sex-trafficked some 20 years ago in Mexico, not in the US.
“We know that President Biden didn’t just create this border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days. When I took office, I took a different approach,” Britt said in her rebuttal speech.
“I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas. That’s where I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex-trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12. She told me not just that she was raped every day, but how many times a day she was raped.”
The Alabama Republican did not specify a timeline of events when she told the distressing tale.
Romero was trafficked from 2004 to 2008, from ages 12 to 16, before being rescued by an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico. Since then, she has advocated for trafficking victims and testified before the US Congress, where she recounted her disturbing experience.
Another gripe Romero had with Britt’s recollection was that she was trafficked by a pimp, not the Mexican drug cartels, per CNN.
Britt has since defended her rebuttal, which drew mockery for her cadence from “Saturday Night Live,” and insisted she did not intend to blame Biden for Romero’s harrowing experience.
“I very clearly said I spoke to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12,” Britt told “Fox News Sunday.”
“So I didn’t say a teenager. I didn’t say a young woman. A grown woman, a woman who was trafficked when she was 12.”
Initially, an independent reporter on TikTok revealed that the woman Britt described in her speech was Romero.
Romero crossed paths with Britt and two other lawmakers early last year, shortly after the Alabama Republican took office.
“I hardly ever cooperate with politicians, because it seems to me that they only want an image. They only want a photo — and that to me is not fair,” Romero added to CNN.
The Post reached out to Britt’s office for comment.
