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Sanders says the choice in the U.S. is 'normal or crazy' in GOP response to Biden

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R-Ark., waits to deliver the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union address, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark.
Al Drago
/
AP
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R-Ark., waits to deliver the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union address, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark.

Arkansas' newly elected governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, delivered the Republican Party's response to President Biden's State of the Union address, telling Americans: "Biden and the Democrats have failed you."

"They know it and you know it and it's time for a change," she said.

She drew a sharp contrast between the two parties, especially with respect to what she called the "left-wing culture war."

"The dividing line in America is no longer between right and left — it's between normal or crazy," Sanders said in her rebuttal to Biden's State of the Union address.

And she drew contrasts between her and Biden, pointing out that the president is the oldest to serve in American history, while she is one of the youngest governors in the country.

"I'm the first woman to lead my state, and he's the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman is," Sanders said.

"It's time for a new generation of Republican leadership," she said, touting her record so far as governor of Arkansas: banning critical race theory, repealing COVID-19 orders and preventing state legislation from using terms like "Latinx."

She held up former President Donald Trump's achievements as bringing "stability" to America before saying the Democrats "destroyed" that record. Sanders served as White House press secretary in the Trump administration.

She specifically highlighted Biden's policies on immigration, the national debt and police reform.

Sanders says she will reveal a conservative education plan on Wednesday

"We will educate, not indoctrinate, our kids, and put students on a path to success," she said.

"It's time for a new generation to lead," Sanders said.

She ended her remarks by describing in great detail a trip she took with Trump to Iraq, which, in her telling, represented the grand reverence that Americans should have for their country.

But she said, "The America we love is in danger," echoing her line that now is the time for change and that Biden and Democrats have failed.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Deepa Shivaram
Deepa Shivaram is a multi-platform political reporter on NPR's Washington Desk.
Emily Olson
Emily Olson is on a three-month assignment as a news writer and live blog editor, helping shape NPR's digital breaking news strategy.
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