Highlights:
Sanders Tweeted During The January 6 Riot That “This Is Not Who We Are As Americans And Must End Now.” According to a tweet from Sanders’ personal account, “We are a nation of law and order and must never tolerate senseless violence. This is not who we are as Americans and must end now.”
[Twitter - @SarahHuckabee, 1/6/21]
Sanders Hired Alexa Henning As Her Communications Director. According to a press release from Governor-elect Sanders, “Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders today announced additional appointments to her senior staff in the governor’s office. ‘I am excited to add two highly qualified and exceptional women to our growing team,’ Sanders said. ‘Alexa is a strong, talented communicator who served alongside me at the White House and Mary Ashleigh brings a servant’s heart with an eye for detail to assist my family and me in the Governor’s Mansion. Both are tremendous additions to our team who will help me effectively lead our state and serve our people.’ Senior Staff Appointments: Communications Director Alexa Henning most recently served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Senior Advisor to the senator’s 2022 re-election campaign.” [Press Release – Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 12/12/22]
Henning Was The Director Of Media Affairs For The 2020 Trump Campaign And Previously Worked In The Trump White House. According to a press release from Governor-elect Sanders, “She brings a decade of experience in strategic communication and media relations throughout all levels of government and political campaigns. Prior to her most recent work, she was Director of Media Affairs for the Donald J. Trump for President Campaign in 2020 and the former White House Director of Broadcast Media for President Trump. Alexa also worked for Jamestown Associates, a political and public affairs firm, and for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (Texas). She is from Dallas, Texas, and a graduate of the University of Missouri.” [Press Release – Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 12/12/22]
January 6: Henning Wrote “This Has To Stop” And “Unacceptable” After Tweeting Out A Video Of Rioters Breaking Into The Senate Chambers In The U.S. Capitol. According to a tweet from Henning’s personal account, “This has to stop. Unacceptable and not who we are.”
[Twitter - @alexahenning, 1/6/21]
Sanders Hired Judd Deere As Her Campaign Communications Director. According to the Associated Press, “A former White House spokesman whose testimony was broadcast before a House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot is joining Sarah Sanders’ campaign for Arkansas governor. Sanders’ campaign on Tuesday announced Judd Deere will serve as its communications director. Deere was among several senior staff hires announced. ‘All of them bring unique experiences and expertise, which makes this campaign, along with our incredible supporters, even stronger,’ Sanders said in a statement.” [Associated Press, 8/2/22]
Sanders Hired Deere As Her Deputy Chief Of Staff After Being Elected Governor. According to Arkansas Talk Business & Politics, “Arkansas Gov.-elect Sarah Sanders announced several staff hires on Tuesday (Nov. 29). They include: Deputy Chief of Staff Judd Deere, who joined her campaign this summer as communications director and has continued in that same capacity in the Governor-elect’s transition office. He is a former White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Donald Trump and brings more than a decade of political communications experience at both the national and state levels.” [Arkansas Talk Business & Politics, 11/29/22]
Deere Served As Deputy White House Press Secretary In The Trump Administration. According to the Associated Press, “Sanders served as White House press secretary under former President Donald Trump and Deere is a former deputy press secretary. Video of a deposition Deere gave was aired during the Jan. 6 committee’s hearings last month.” [Associated Press, 8/2/22]
Deere Said He Told Trump To Concede The Election After The Electoral College Met. According to a transcript of Deere’s testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, “[Question] Were you involved in any conversations about whether the President would or would not accept the results of the November 2020 election? In other words, any conversations about whether the President would or would not concede that he lost the November 2020 election? [Deere’s Lawyer Christopher Bartolomucci] Are you asking about conversations with anybody? [Q] With anybody, yes. [Deere] Yes. […] [Q] Okay. What can you remember about what you said? [Deere] I -- I told him that my personal viewpoint was that the electoral college had met, which is the system that our country is -- is set under to elect a President and Vice President, and I believed at that point that the means for him to pursue litigation was probably closed. [Q] And do you remember saying anything else to him about it? [Deere] Not specifically, no. [Q] And do you recall what his response, if any, was? [Deere] He disagreed. [Q] Okay. To the best of your recollection, what did he say? [Deere] He -- he just disagreed and reiterated the points I said earlier and expressed that he intended to continue with challenges and litigation.” [House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, 3/3/22]
Deere Called Trump’s Tweet About Mike Pence Not Having The Courage To Overturn The Election “Extremely Unhelpful.” According to a transcript of Deere’s testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, “[Q] So let's turn to that tweet, if you look at exhibit 16. This is a tweet from Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump, and this is time stamped 2:24 p.m. on January 6th. He wrote: Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution. Giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth! Exclamation point. Is it your recollection -- I think you already just said this. But it's your recollection that the conversation you had with Ms. McEnany and then Ms. McEnany going to talk to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, that that was before the President issued this tweet. [Deere] That is my recollection. [Q] Do you have any knowledge of whether Mr. Meadows then spoke to the President? [Deere] I have no knowledge. [Q] Okay. Were you involved in any way in the drafting or reviewing of this tweet? [Deere] No. [Q] What was your reaction when you saw that tweet? [Deere] Extremely unhelpful.” [House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, 3/3/22]
Deere Said The Situation At The U.S. Capitol Was Only Getting Worse At The Time Trump Attacked Pence. According to a transcript of Deere’s testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, “[Q] Why? [Deere] It wasn't the message that we needed at that time. It wasn't going to – the scenes at the U.S. Capitol were only getting worse at that point. This was not going to help that.” [House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, 3/3/22]
Deere Said Trump’s Tweet About Pence Not Having The Courage To Overturn The Election Was Not “Truthful.” According to a transcript of Deere’s testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, “[ [Q] Were you concerned it could make it worse? [Deere] Certainly. [Q] Why? [Deere] Because I didn't think it was truthful.” [House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, 3/3/22]
Deere Said He Believed Pence Did Not Have The Authority To Throw Out The Elector Certificates. According to a transcript of Deere’s testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, “[Q] Explain that. [Deere] I didn't think that Mike Pence had -- I didn't think that he had that authority.” [House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, 3/3/22]
Early 2023: Trump Asked Sanders For An Endorsement. According to ABC News, “Sarah Huckabee Sanders touted her endorsement from former President Donald Trump to help win the Arkansas governor's mansion, but although Trump reportedly has asked her to return the favor for his 2024 White House bid, Sanders so far has kept publicly silent. With his reelection bid underway, Trump asked Sanders for her endorsement in a phone call ‘weeks ago,’ according to the New York Times.” [ABC News, 3/7/23]
February 2023: Sanders Declined Trump’s Request For An Endorsement. According to the New York Times, “What’s more, there is a lack of public support so far from some of his longest-serving aides. On a call weeks ago, Mr. Trump asked Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, his former White House press secretary, to endorse him, and she replied that she would not yet do so, according to two people briefed on the discussion, who asked not to be named discussing the private call. Mr. Trump was disappointed but not angry in response on the call, the people said.” [New York Times, 3/4/23]
2023: Sanders’ Neutrality In The 2024 Presidential Race Frustrated Trump. According to Axios, “Tensions between Donald Trump and his former press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have grown over her neutrality in the 2024 presidential race, people familiar with the relationship tell Axios.” [Axios, 7/19/23]
Sanders Said She Would Not Endorse Until After The Arkansas Legislative Session In May. According to Axios, “Driving the news: Trump’s frustration has risen recently because Sanders’ team had told his campaign she wouldn’t make an endorsement until after her first legislative session in Arkansas, according to two people familiar with the discussions.” [Axios, 7/19/23]
Trump Saw Sanders Differently Than Other Governors Because She Had Worked In His Administration And He Endorsed Sanders The Day After She Announced Her Gubernatorial Campaign. According to Axios, “The intrigue: Trump sees Sanders in a different category than other GOP leaders because he hired her to be his press secretary and endorsed her the day she launched her campaign for governor in January 2021. One Trump ally described the feeling as: ‘You should always dance with the person who brought you.’” [Axios, 7/19/23]
November 2023: Sanders Endorsed Trump. According to the Associated Press, “Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as former President Donald Trump’s press secretary, on Monday endorsed his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Sanders, who took office in January as Arkansas governor after a campaign where she touted her endorsement from the former president, planned to join Trump at a rally in Florida on Wednesday, Trump said in a statement. ‘It’s not a question between right versus left anymore. It’s normal versus crazy, and President Biden and the left are doubling down on crazy,’ Sanders said in a statement. ‘The time has come to return to the normal policies of the Trump era which created a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America, and that’s why I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President.’” [Associated Press, 11/6/23]
Sanders Did Not Directly Answer Whether She Believed Trump Could Unite The Country. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, ‘‘‘Anyone who believes Donald Trump will unite this country has been asleep over the last 8 years,’ the post said. ‘Trump intentionally tries to divide America and will continue to do so. Go @NikkiHaley in New Hampshire.’ Brennan asked Sanders, ‘Do you honestly believe Trump is going to unite the country this time? When in the first term that you were part of the country was very divided?’ ‘One of the things that I think is so often left out of Donald Trump’s story is the patriotism and the love of country that he brought back,’ Sanders said. ‘We see people who believe in America again, who’ve seen the strength of our country. We brought back American manufacturing. We secured our border we had a strong economy. Our enemies abroad actually feared us and our allies actually respected us, instead of the people now are across the other the other side of the world are laughing at us and taking advantage of the weakness of (Biden).’ She went on to proclaim ‘I know that (Trump) can deliver again, because he’s done it before.’” [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/21/24]
Sanders Called The Trump-Putin Summit In Helsinki “A Missed Opportunity.” According to NPR, “She never crosses the president. One of the only times she acknowledges any kind of mistake was during Trump's highly criticized summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. ‘It was a missed opportunity to send an unmistakably clear message to Russia and other foreign adversaries not to interfere in our election,’ she writes.” [NPR, 9/3/20]
Trump Openly Questioned U.S. Intelligence And Accepted Putin’s Assertion That Russia Did Not Interfere In The 2016 Election. According to the Associated Press, “In an extraordinary embrace of a longtime U.S. enemy, President Donald Trump on Monday openly questioned his own intelligence agencies’ firm finding that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election to his benefit, seeming to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insistence that Moscow’s hands were clean.” [Associated Press, 7/16/18]