Sarah Huckabee Sanders hasn’t lost a step.
The woman who excelled at the unenviable job of den mother to the petulant Washington press corps during her press secretary days in the Trump administration is now her own boss in the Arkansas governor’s mansion in Little Rock.
But she still knows how to handle an establishment media that barely hides its hostility to her conservative beliefs.
That much was clear on Sunday on CBS when “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan treated the Arkansas governor to an interrogation more than an interview, culminating with a question about whether Huckabee Sanders would consider running with former President Donald Trump in the increasingly likely event Trump wins the Republican nomination.
Check it out below. The vice presidency question comes at the end, but the whole thing is worth watching, if only for a reminder of the kind shark-tank treatment Huckabee Sanders faced from the White House press corps on a daily basis — and how gracefully she handled it:
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Brennan peppered Huckabee Sanders with questions about abortion — Sanders never gave an inch from her pro-life position.
Brennan all but blamed Huckabee Sanders personally for high maternal mortality rates in Arkansas, with a loaded question about coverage for postpartum care for mothers. The governor handled it deftly.
On the flip side, Brennan implied Huckabee Sanders is a hypocrite and traitor to conservative principles for accepting a federal program for food assistance for poor children during the summer.
Do you miss Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ handling of the mainstream media?
The answer was fairly simple: “I don’t think any child should ever go hungry if we have options available to us to help improve that,” Huckabee Sanders said. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
And then the question turned to the presidential race, where Huckabee Sanders delivered the kind of defense of the Trump administration that made the establishment media squirm during her White House days.
“I think this election right now is very simple. It’s a very clear contrast. You have two individuals who have a four-year record to run on,” Huckabee Sanders said.
“One has a record of success coming from a posture and a position of strength in Donald Trump, and one who comes from a position of weakness. Every single thing that voters actually care about, every single thing that drives voters to show up and cast their ballot, Donald Trump is winning on, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s securing the border, whether it’s national security, whether it’s taking a hard line against China, every single one of those major issues that really drive voters, Donald Trump is dominating Joe Biden on.
“And they both have clear records in which to run from, and I have no doubt that the matchup in November will declare Donald Trump a clear victor because of that — that contrast.”
That was clearly not what Brennan wanted to hear — she brought up former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s endorsement of Trump rival Nikki Haley for the GOP nomination and questioning whether Trump can “unite” the country — but Huckabee Sanders wasn’t backing down.
“It’s hard to argue that having a good economy, having safe and secure borders, taking a hard line against China, those are empowering and unifying things for our country,” Huckabee Sanders said.
And that’s when the vice presidency came up.
“Look, I absolutely love the job I have,” Huckabee Sanders said. “I think it’s one of the best jobs I could ever ask for. And I am honored to serve as governor, and I hope I get to do it for the next seven years.”
Would Arkansas Gov. @SarahHuckabee, who was one of Donald Trump’s White House press secretaries, be open to serving as his vice president?
“I love the job I have,” she says, adding that she hopes to do it “for the next seven years.” pic.twitter.com/MJsyvZom7p
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 21, 2024
Brennan took the answer at face value.
“Next seven years,” she said. “All right. That sounds like two terms — maybe a no.”
Maybe a “no” sounds right, and maybe that’s better for Huckabee Sanders, for Arkansas, and even for the Trump campaign, which — if Trump wins the nomination — can keep its options open on choosing a No. 2 until the moment is most politically useful.
But as that “Face the Nation” interview reminded viewers, Huckabee Sanders is a rare Republican who can meet members of the mainstream media on their own terms, handle their questions and even make them look foolish without ever sacrificing her own dignity.
The country as a whole should miss that. Conservatives do. If liberals had any sense, they would.
