Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is scheduled to endorse her one-time boss, former President Donald Trump, for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The endorsement will take place Wednesday night at the former president’s rally in his adopted home state of Florida, Fox News confirmed on Monday.
The rally is seen as a counter programming move by Trump, as the event is being held in Hialeah, Florida, simultaneously as the third GOP presidential primary debate just a few miles away in Miami.
Trump – the commanding front-runner for the nomination as he makes his third straight White House run – is once again skipping out on participating in the debates with his Republican rivals.
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FILE – Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks after taking the oath of the office on the steps of the Arkansas Capitol, Jan. 10, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Will Newton, File) (AP Photo/Will Newton, File)
Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, served as White House press secretary for two of Trump’s four years in office. And she’s been a strong Trump ally since he left the White House.
But Sanders, who was convincingly elected Arkansas governor last November, had stayed neutral until now in the GOP presidential primary race. Her holding off on making an endorsement irritated the former president, according to sources in Trump’s political orbit.
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“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.”
Then-President Donald Trump welcomes White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to the stage as he pauses from speaking about second chance hiring to publicly thank the outgoing press secretary in the East Room of the White House, Thursday June 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Trump, in a statement, emphasized that “we had great success in the White House and it’s an honor to have Sarah’s endorsement. I look forward to having her at the big rally in Hialeah this Wednesday.”
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Word of Sanders’ backing of Trump, which was first reported by NBC News, came as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis formally landed the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa Monday evening.
DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, are currently battling for second place in the polls in Iowa and the other crucial early voting states.