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Sarah Huckabee Sanders will give the Republican response to the State of the Union

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks after taking the oath of the office on the steps of the Arkansas Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark.
Will Newton
/
AP
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks after taking the oath of the office on the steps of the Arkansas Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will deliver the GOP response to President Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The announcement was made by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday.

McCarthy said "everyone, including President Biden, should listen carefully" to her comments which will come following Biden's speech next week.

"She is a servant-leader of true determination and conviction. I'm thrilled Sarah will share her extraordinary story and bold vision for a better America on Tuesday," McCarthy said in a statement.

Sanders, 40, was elected governor in November. She is the first woman elected to lead the solidly Republican state. But she is not new to politics.

She is a former White House press secretary for President Donald Trump and daughter of two-term Arkansas Gov.-turned-political commentator Mike Huckabee.

"I am grateful for this opportunity to address the nation and contrast the GOP's optimistic vision for the future against the failures of President Biden and the Democrats. We are ready to begin a new chapter in the story of America – to be written by a new generation of leaders ready to defend our freedom against the radical left and expand access to quality education, jobs, and opportunity for all," she said.

Also tapped to give a GOP rebuttal is Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, who will be giving a speech in Spanish.

"As many of you know, Juan's story — immigrating to America at age 11 — and his father drove a bus in Tuscon, Ariz. Just a real true American story as well," McCarthy said.

The last Spanish-language State of the Union response was given by Texas' Rep. Veronica Escobar in 2020.

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

Ximena Bustillo
Ximena Bustillo is a multi-platform reporter at NPR covering politics out of the White House and Congress on air and in print.