The Republican response will be given by Arkansas governor and former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is a former Trump White House press secretary, to President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech next week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday.
Sanders said he was grateful for this opportunity to address the nation and contrast the GOP vision for the future against the failures of President Biden and the Democrats. Sanders will give her remarks following Biden's speech on Tuesday, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Sanders became the first woman elected governor of the largely Republican state in November.
The youngest governor in America, Sarah is fighting for the rights of parents, small businesses, and ordinary taxpayers, McCarthy said.
I am thrilled that Sarah will share her extraordinary story and bold vision for a better America on Tuesday. McCarthy said that everyone, including President Biden, should listen carefully.
McConnell called Sanders a strong advocate for the popular conservative principles that will put our country back on a better course. I am excited for the nation to hear from Governor Sanders on Tuesday and see a stark contrast with this exhausted and failing Administration," McConnell said.
Sanders was the daughter of the former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee stepped down as White House press secretary in 2019. After she stepped down, former President Donald Trump encouraged her to run for governor in her home state.
The opposition party's response has been seen as a stepping stone for politicians in the past.
Bill Clinton delivered a Democratic response to President Ronald Reagan's State of the Union address.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S. C., a potential 2024 presidential candidate, responded to Biden's address in 2021. Scott said in his address that while the president seems like a good man, the actions of the president and his party are pulling us further apart. Another potential 2024 candidate for the GOP, then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley delivered the Republican response to President Barack Obama's speech in 2016 about the State of the Union.