Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders attacked President Joe Biden‘s State of the Union with a blistering speech on Tuesday night.
The governor and former Trump administration press secretary castigated the administration as “woke” and “unsafe.”
Biden’s speech likely reveals what he will say on the campaign trail for his reelection. Sander’s rebuttal may also show how Republican candidates plan to respond – even though she is not likely to be a presidential candidate.
“At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the country, and at 80, he’s the oldest president in American history,” she said, attempting to draw a contrast between the two politicians.
Republicans are likely to hit the president for his age and positions on social issues.
“The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal or crazy,” she said.
Huckabee Sanders claimed that Biden is “unfit to serve as commander in chief,” referencing Republican attacks on Biden’s handling of the Chinese surveillance balloon.
Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s foreign policy choices with China as “soft.”
The speech was markedly different from Biden’s in many ways. Biden’s optimism about the American future emanated throughout, while Huckabee Sanders sounded very ominous about the country’s direction.
The two also spoke in wildly different spaces. Biden engaged with Republicans on the House floor while Huckabee Sanders spoke alone in her living room.
Sanders is the first female governor of Arkansas. She follows the footsteps of her father, Mike Huckabee, who sat in the same seat from 1996 to 2007.
