Who knew Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was studying Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) playbook? Cruz received a rousing round of well-deserved criticism after fleeing his state for sunny Cancun during a devastating and historic winter storm in February 2021 that left millions of residents without power and killed at least 246 people, although Buzzfeed established the number was closer to 700. Now it’s being reported that Huckabee Sanders avoided those pesky tornadoes that killed at least 8 people by attending a NASCAR race in North Carolina, more than 755 miles away from the governor’s mansion in Little Rock, Arkansas. While people’s lives were being torn to bits, she was hobnobbing and posing for photos with supporters, according to Queerty.
Perhaps that provided a bit of salve for that devasting burn Politico recently dealt her, about the fact that she apparently isn’t doing much governing in Arkansas.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter was a guest at Saturday’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, well away from the tornadoes that were devastating her state. However, she did manage to declare a state emergency and urged people to follow guidance from local officials who were actually doing their jobs. And no, her constituents were not happy.
After all, this is a woman who blew more than $19,000 on a stupid podium and enjoyed a lavish trip to Europe, all on the taxpayers’ dimes. Unsurprisingly, her constituents weren’t pleased with this recent adventure. Folks took to social media to give Huckabee Sanders what for. And when you do something this callous, well, you certainly deserve it.
What she did was completely selfish. Ducking out on people in her state when they needed her is pretty much the opposite of what dear old Dad, Mike Huckabee did, even if he still was a lousy governor. Huckabee and his predecessor, Asa Hutchinson governed their state, especially since Democrats held the state legislature until 2013, so the two men worked cooperatively.
But they were also press-friendly. Huckabee had a reputation for returning reporters’ calls and Hutchinson carried on friendly conversations with the press. That sure isn’t the case for Huckabee Sanders, who rarely holds press conversations and almost never answers questions.
Mike Huckabee’s former policy and comms director Rex Nelson summed it up this way: “We are in a weird position of having a governor in this state who doesn’t seem to have much interest in governing Arkansas.
This leads me to wonder if a recall vote could be held. I’m a novice in this sort of thing but Arkansas needs a REAL governor. As it is, the state currently ranks as the fourth worst state in the country in households living below the federal poverty level, it is the second worst state when it comes to safety, and it ranks dead last in the country when it comes to health.
Why doesn’t this even seem to bother her? She’s only here for the prizes, and gifts she might receive?
MeidasTouchNetwork’s Ron Filipkowski aptly observed on X:
“A story of two governors dealing with the immediate aftermath of deaths and destruction from massive storms hitting their states:
L-Andy Beshear in Kentucky
R-Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the NASCAR race in nc.”
A story of two governors dealing with the immediate aftermath of deaths and destruction from massive storms hitting their states:
L – Andy Beshear in Kentucky
R – Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the NASCAR race in NC. pic.twitter.com/ax29JrRqNL
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 27, 2024
X users had their say, and they didn’t hold back:
Sara Sanders adopting the “Ted Cruz” methodology
— actingliketommy (@actingliketommy) May 27, 2024
They call themselves “influencers” I believe, internet inhabitants, politician-performers. Carnival folk have more dignity than these “clowns”, no offense to clownfolk.
— Fr. Ferdinand Santos, MBA, PhD (@FatherFerdi) May 28, 2024
Andy Beshear has demonstrated time and again that he's got his state's back. From mass shooting tragedies to natural disasters, he's everything you want from a governor, and everything Huckabee could never hope to be. Not unlike Kari lake, her priority is national visibility.
— BruceGoldberg (@bgoldbergpdx) May 27, 2024
I’ve met wonderful people in Arkansas. They would give you the shirt off their back. How did they end up with her?
— Sheila☮️ (@saenewengland) May 28, 2024
Lastly, let’s not forget this woman has an awful record of repressing the state’s LGBTQ+ community. She has no conscience whatsoever it seems.
While I’m absolutely loath to defend Ted Cruz, his little adventure does have a slight difference from Huckaster-Sanders’: Cruz is a US Senator while Huckaster-Sanders is a governor (well, titularly, anyway). While a US Senator can help to grease the wheels in getting financial aid from the Feds, it’s up to the Governor to actually contact the Feds for that assistance.
Cruz did screw himself in terms of the court of public opinion but, again, it wasn’t his responsibility to hang out in Texas during that crisis (if he’d been returning to DC, no one would’ve really thought twice about his “escaping the state”). If Greg Abbott had been in Cruz’s place–trying to flee the state during its crisis–the comparisons to Huckaster-Sanders would be much more apt. (As it was, Abbott’s only real problem was that he DID stay in the state because it was HIS policies that led to the crisis in the first place. It would’ve been funny if he’d managed to “escape” and then was met at the airport with a torch-wielding mob upon his return.)
As for this: “She has no conscience whatsoever it seems.” Well, that’s what makes her a perfect MAGAt.
I would bet a bit of bucks that Sarah said yes to Nascar’s invite because she had seen the announcement that Trump would be in Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600. And, Trump was there at Sunday’s race. Sarah was there on Saturday…for qualifying day. If she wanted a veepstakes photo with Trump, she wasn’t gonna get it on Saturday! Maybe she just wanted to get her name associated with Trump’s in the news stories about the big racing weekend, but she didn’t even get that. I haven’t found any stories that link their appearances. 🤭
A cross eyed lying nazi beatch from Hell…and that’s the nicest thing I can say about this christo-fascist. You folks in Arkansas DESERVE HER FOR PUTTING HER SORRY ASS IN OFFICE AFTER WATCHING HER LIE OVER AND OVER AND OVER FOR TRUMP. Good luck to you half breeds.
Surely nobody thought the twit became governor of AR because she wanted to help the citizens. If anyone did, please contact me as I have some really cheap ocean-side property to sell you…in AZ. I got a bridge too at a bargain price.
In all fairness, she couldn’t have known that there would be tornadoes. Not that she would have changed her plans,I suspect.
Cruz,deliberately went to Cancun after the power went out out. He chose to abandon his constituents, knowing they were suffering.
Imagine if Hillary had done that. They were upset with her for taking time off after her blood clot surgery.