Sarah Huckabee Sanders Delivers GOP Response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address Transcript

Emma. She was 20 years old and in her first year of marriage. When she was diagnosed with spinal cancer, the doctors told her she might not live. And if she did live, they said she’d never walk again, and if she did walk, she definitely never have children. The daughter she was told never have was just sworn in as the new governor of Arkansas and is speaking to you tonight. Adversity and fear of the unknown can paralyze us, but faith propels us to charge boldly ahead. Can’t stand still in the face of [inaudible 00:00:44]. You and I were put on this earth for such a time as this, to charge boldly ahead. I’ll be the first to admit President Biden and I don’t have a lot in common. I’m for freedom. He’s for government control. At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the [inaudible 00:01:04] and at 80, he’s the oldest President in American history.

(01:09)
I’m the first woman to lead my state and he’s the man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is. In the Radical Lefts America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race. But not to love one another, or our country, leaves this madness or is simply too weak to resist it. His administration has been completely hijacked by the Radical Left. The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. The choice is between… It’s time for a new generation of Republican leadership. Upon taking office just a few weeks ago, I signed executive orders to ban CRT, racism and indoctrination in our schools, eliminate the use of derogatory term, LatinX in our government.

(02:19)
Repealed COVID orders and said never again to authoritarian mandates and shutdowns. Americans want common sense from their leaders, but in Washington, the Biden administration is doubling down on crazy. President Biden inherited the fastest economic recovery on record, the most secure border in history, cheap, abundant, homegrown energy, fast rising wages. A rebuilt military and a world that was stable and at peace, are now killed from drug overdoses, largely from fentanyl pouring across our southern border. Yet the Biden administration refuses to secure the border and save American lives. And after years of democratic attacks on law enforcement and calls to defund the police, violent criminals roam free while law-abiding families live in fear. Beyond our border from Afghanistan to Ukraine, from North Korea to Iran, President Biden’s weakness puts our nation and the world at risk and the President’s refusal to stand up to China, our most formidable adversary is dangerous and unacceptable.

(03:43)
President Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people. He is unfit to serve as commander-in-chief 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. Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left wing cultural war. We didn’t start and never wanted to fight. Every day we are told we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their [inaudible 00:04:23]. Strip away the most American thing there is. Your freedom of speech. That’s not normal. It’s crazy and it’s wrong. Make no mistake, Republicans will not surrender this fight. We will lead with courage and do what’s right, not what’s politically correct or convenient.

(04:46)
Republicans believe in an America where strong families thrive in safe communities, where jobs are abundant and paychecks are rising, where the freedom our veterans shed their blood to defend is the birthright of every man, woman, and child. These are the principles Republican governors are fighting for and in Washington, under the leadership of Senate Republicans and speaker Kevin McCarthy, we will hold the Biden administration accountable.

(05:20)
Down the street from where I sit is my alma mater, Little Rock Central High. Been there. I will never forget watching my dad, governor Mike Huckabee and President Bill Clinton hold the doors open to the Little Rock 9. Doors that 40 years earlier had been closed to them because they were black, today those children once barred from the schoolhouse are now heroes, memorialized in bronze at our state house. I’m proud of the progress our country has made and helping every child access to a quality education regardless of their race or income, is the civil rights issue of our day.

(06:10)
Tomorrow I will unveil an education package that will be the most far-reaching bold, conservative education reform in the country. My plan empowers parents with real choices, improves literacy and career readiness, and helps put a good teacher in every classroom by increasing their starting salary by the lowest to one of the highest in the nation.

(06:37)
Here in Arkansas and across America, Republicans are working to end the policy of trapping kids in failing schools and sentencing them to a lifetime of poverty, [inaudible 00:06:50] our kids and put students on a path to success. It’s time for a new generation to lead. This is our moment. This is our opportunity. A new generation born in the waning decades of the last century shaped by economic booms and stock market busts. Forged by the triumph of the Cold War and the tragedy of 911. A generation brimming with passion and new ideas to solve age-old problems, a generation more to our deepest values and oldest traditions, yet unafraid to challenge the present order and find a better way forward. If we seize this moment together, America can once again be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

(07:46)
During my two and a half years at the White House, I traveled on every foreign trip with the President. A trip I will never forget was on December 25th of 2018. My husband Brian and I had just cleaned up wrapping paper that was shoved into every corner of our house, thanks to our three kids. When I had to walk out on my own family’s Christmas, unable to tell them where I was going that night because the place I’d be traveling was so dangerous. They didn’t want anybody to know that the President was going to be on the ground even for a few hours. We boarded Air Force One in complete and total darkness. There were no lights on the plane, no lights on the runway. Our phones and computers shut down and turned in. We were going completely off the grid. Nearly 12 hours later in the pitch black of night, we landed in the war torn part of Western Iraq.

(08:56)
It was again a similar scene. No lights on the plane, no lights on the runway. The only thing you could see was coming from about a mile away in a dining hall where hundreds of troops who were in the fight against ISIS, had gathered expecting to celebrate Christmas with senior military leadership from around the region. They had absolutely no idea that the President and First Lady were about to walk into that room, and when they did, it was a sight and a scene and a sound I hope I never forget. The room erupted. Men and women from every race, religion, and region, every political party, every demographic you can imagine started chanting in perfect unison over and over and over again. USA, USA, USA. It was an absolutely [inaudible 00:10:07] of what makes our country great. One of the young soldiers yelled from the back, “Mr. President, I reenlisted in the military because of you.” And the President said, “And son, I’m here because of you.”

(10:24)
Shortly after that young soldier came up to me, he said, “Sarah, you have a tough job.” I told him, “What I do is nothing. You take bombs and bullets. That’s a tough job.” And in a moment that I know I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, soldier reached up and he pulled the brave rifles patch he wore on his shoulder and he placed it into my hand, ultimate respect. And he said, “Sarah, we are in this together.” Overwhelm with emotion and speechless. I just hugged him with tears in my eyes and a grateful heart for our heroes who keep us free. That young man and everyone who has served before him, all of those who serve alongside and the thousands we know who will be called upon to serve after him, deserve to know they have a country and a community back home doing our part in the fight for freedom.

(11:31)
America is great because we are, but today our freedom is under attack and the America we love is in danger. 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 of the status quo, but to be change makers for the American people. We know not what the future holds, but we know who holds the future in his hands and with God as our witness, we will show the world that America is still the place where freedom reigns and liberty will never die. Thank you. God bless you and God bless America.