Sarah Huckabee Sanders rebuts Biden, rails against 'left-wing culture war' in SOTU response

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused President Biden and Democrats of launching a “left-wing culture war” in the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

Sanders accused Democrats of demanding fealty to “false idols” and hinted at the fight that Republicans have launched against critical race theory and transgender issues, but did not elaborate on her comments in her 15-minute rebuttal to Biden’s second State of the Union address.

Sanders’s speech echoed many of the themes that have already taken hold on the right in the nascent 2024 race — focusing on immigration and drug flow across the border and engaging in battles over teaching about race and gender.

“Our freedom is under attack, and the America we love is in danger,” Sanders said. “President Biden and the Democrats have failed you, and it’s time for a change, a new generation of Republican leaders are stepping up — not to be caretakers for the status quo, but to be change makers for the American people.”

Sanders, who rose to prominence as former President Donald Trump’s White House press secretary, made no mention of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol or the COVID-19 pandemic, which marked Trump’s exit from the White House.

Sanders delivered the official Republican Party rebuttal to Biden, a platform that has often been used to elevate rising stars within the party. But Trump himself delivered a separate rebuttal to Biden’s address, saying that he was “a victim of the Justice Department” and accused Biden of bringing the country close to a third World War.

Trump was the first Republican to jump in the race for the White House in 2024, though he is expected to be followed soon by other candidates, including his former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among others.