Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the new Republican governor of Arkansas, was picked to deliver the GOP rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address next week.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) revealed the choice on Thursday and got immediate rave reviews from fellow Republicans. This role is usually given to a rising star within the opposition party and they give a counter agenda to the nation from the president.
It’s not being missed by anyone that this year’s choice was a high-profile member of former President Donald Trump’s White House.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to address the nation after the State of the Union on Tuesday,” Sanders said in a tweet. “What America needs – and what Republicans are offering – is a return to common sense and a commitment to the ideals that made America the land of the free and home of the brave.”
Sanders served in the previous administration as an adviser on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and she later became the White House press secretary for two years.
After leaving the Trump White House in 2019, she ran a successful campaign for the 2022 election becoming governor of Arkansas. This is a role held by her father, Mike Huckabee.
Right after being sworn into office, Sanders signed an executive order banning the use of “Latinx” in government documents. She also banned Critical Race Theory in K-12 public schools.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) delivered the GOP response to Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress in 2021. He tweeted, “Let ‘em have it, [Sanders]. America is ready to return to normalcy and common sense. I can’t wait to hear you deliver the GOP’s blueprint for how we’ll continue to hold Biden accountable for his failures as president.
And Mike Huckabee praised McCarthy for making a “brilliant choice,” and then said he was “TOTALLY objective.”
She is the
✓ Youngest governor in America
✓ First female governor in Arkansas history
✓ First father-daughter governance in historyEveryone—including President Biden—should tune in. pic.twitter.com/8FlP4p8OIL
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) February 2, 2023
