CNN was recently forced to issue a correction to a story it published was accused of being a “smear” campaign against Sen. Katie Brit. Reportedly, CNN attempted to discredit Britt’s rebuttal of the State of the Union earlier this year, in which she commented on a story of a sex trafficking victim to highlight the impact of the ongoing border crisis.
The victim was later identified as Karla Jacinto, was faced abuse at the hands of human traffickers from Mexico from the time she was 12 to 16, which Britt spoke about in her criticism of the Biden-Harris administration. CNN featured Jacinto in a recent story and broadcast on the network that attempted to debunk Britt’s commentary.
For example, CNN claimed that Britt incorrectly claimed to have met with Jacinto in person. However, Britt maintained that she had never claimed to have met with Jacinto in person, but only to have “spoken” with her while traveling to the southern border with Mexico in Texas.
As a result, CNN announced that it had corrected the story that made this claim. When asked about the inaccurate statement, the network stated they had corrected the language in the story. The story now features a note which reads, “CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify the circumstances of Britt’s meeting with Jacinto.”Reintegra, an advocacy group that works with Jacinto, addressed the controversy maintaining that her comments were not politically influenced. “Ms. Jacinto has made it clear that she does not wish to be a pawn in political discussions around immigration policies or other political issues. Her focus is to help open peoples’ eyes and let the world know about the evils of human trafficking. She understands that people are [on] both sides of the political aisle can and must be united in this fight for the sake of vulnerable people,” organization said.
“We invite Senator Britt and all who care about vulnerable people to join us in working together in a bipartisan, multinational way to help provide safe, migration and resettlement opportunities to help prevent this issue. We believe that we can’t fight this common enemy if we are instead fighting across party or racial divides. We ask all to reject language that dehumanizes those seeking asylum and treat others in a dignified, humane way as we work as one to make this world a better place,” the statement continued.
Subsequently, various Republicans voiced their support for Sen. Britt. “Joe Biden’s policies have been a gift to the cartels that are engaged in horrific sex trafficking and bringing fentanyl to the U.S. Katie Britt is absolutely right and that’s why the media is attacking her. They want to smear any conservative who speaks out,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote on X.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo weighed in, “The media is targeting Senator Katie Britt because she’s a strong conservative who told the truth about open border policies. And Katie is exactly right: these border policies have been a disaster for the American people.”
Britt addressed the media against her, redirecting the conversation back to the border crisis. “The cartels are making record-shattering profits from human trafficking. Historic numbers of migrants are dying at the border. And between brutal murders and fentanyl poisonings, far too many Americans are being killed. That’s the story the media doesn’t want to tell — and now they’re trying to silence me for telling it,” she said.
