CNN
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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday.
The speech will give Sanders a prominent national platform to speak to the country and counter Biden after the President highlights his priorities and agenda to the nation.
According to excerpts released ahead of the speech, Sanders will criticize the Biden administration, arguing that Americans are struggling under ineffective leadership and facing economic hardship.
“In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves,” the excerpts say.
“And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day.”
This year’s State of the Union will take place with Republicans newly in control of the House, a position of power the GOP is using to launch congressional oversight investigations aimed at the Biden administration.
Sanders is expected to say, “Republicans believe in an America where strong families thrive in safe communities. Where jobs are abundant, and paychecks are rising.”
Sanders gained national prominence as White House press secretary under former President Donald Trump, serving as a staunch defender of the then-President and his policies, and frequently clashing with national reporters.
She made history last year as the first woman elected as governor of Arkansas. Her father, Republican Mike Huckabee, served as governor of the state from 1996 to 2007.
The governor and her team believe the image of this youngest governor in America and the first female governor of Arkansas will be a representation of a new generation of Republican leadership and will serve as one of the key takeaways of her response this evening.
After being sworn in as governor, Sanders signed a flurry of executive orders, with one targeting critical race theory “to prohibit indoctrination” in schools and another barring the use of the term “Latinx” in official state documents.
Another major public policy focus of the speech is expected to be education and making clear that parental involvement in a child’s education is critical.
Republican congressional leaders Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced earlier this month that Sanders would give the response for their party to the State of the Union.
McConnell said in a statement, “Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the youngest Governor in the nation and a powerful advocate for the popular, commonsense conservative principles that will put our country back on a better course.”
McCarthy called Sanders “a servant-leader of true determination and conviction,” in a statement and said that she will share a “bold vision for a better America on Tuesday. Everyone, including President Biden, should listen carefully.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s David Chalian, Shawna Mizelle, Maureen Chowdhury and Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.
