Sarah Huckabee Sanders drew widespread scorn last week when she attempted to overhaul Arkansas’ public records laws to shield her activity.
Now we may know one of the reasons why, and it’s beyond embarrassing.
State records show Arkansas purchased a nearly $20,000 podium ($19,029.25, to be exact) just in time for Sanders’ taxpayer-funded trip to Europe this summer.
Yes, you read that correctly, folx. The gay-hating governor spent what many people spend on a car on a custom-made podium with it’s very own traveling case.
That’s almost $15,000 more than gay anti-LGBTQ+ former congressman Aaron Schock spent on a custom-made podium during his own spending scandal a few years back.
A political blogger named Matt Campbell reported the grift on Twitter X.
In response, Sanders’ spokeswoman says the Republican Party of Arkansas used private inaugural funds to reimburse the state, but that seems shady. The state wasn’t reimbursed until mid-September, even though the podium was purchased in June.
“They sent emails to have the credit line increased so that they could buy it, and they specifically asked how it should be coded for state accounting,” said Campbell, via Arkansas Today. “They did not even mark the receipt as something to be reimbursed until they were sending it to me, which is likely why this wasn’t reimbursed until mid-September, despite being purchased in June.”
The spokeswoman, Alexa Henning, decried “keyboard warriors,” and said the state simply made an error.
Sarah will always lie about everything
— Steve Paul (@Spp562Paul) September 21, 2023
Campbell sent a follow-up letter to the governor’s office Thursday, signed “Ragnar IV, Warrior King of Keybordia.”
OK, our Keyboard King!
Make her talk about it.
— My Info (@MyTwayne) September 21, 2023
Oh, you keyboard warrior, you. I’ll just go ahead and pour a shot.
— It’s Me, Again (@lakeloonatic2) September 21, 2023
Campbell, who literally brought the receipts, is currently involved in a legal battle with the state over Arkansas State Police records. He invoked the open-records law after the police denied his request to see papers involving Sanders’ travel and security.
The politico nepo baby called a special session last week to severely limit Arkansas’ vast open-records rules. The legislature eventually passed a curtailed version that exempts records related to her security detail, along with other constitutional officers.
At first, Sanders said she was pushing for the change to protect her family’s safety, before pivoting to nonsense about supporting the state police.
Her constituents caught on to her blatant about-face.
Sanders, whose taxpayer-funded “trade mission” to Europe was seemingly nothing more than a free vacation, has enacted a far-right agenda since taking office in January.
Already, she’s signed her own “Don’t Say Gay” bill and appointed Jacob Oliva, the man responsible for crafting the odious legislation in Florida, to lead the state’s education department.
She’s also barred transgender teachers and students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities, and banned use of the gender-neutral term “Latinx” in state documents.
One of her executive orders requires Arkansas teachers to acquire parental approval before addressing students by their proper pronouns.
Prior to the start of the school year, she warned school districts to not offer an Advanced Placement class for African-American studies
In other words, Sanders seems intent on turning Arkansas into a mini-Florida. She’s following Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis straight to the bottom.
As a state, Arkansas is struggling mightily. It is the fourth poorest state in the nation, with a mounting affordable housing crisis and massive food insecurity. A recent Scholaroo survey found the state ranks 49th in the nation for quality of life and 50th in the nation for quality of health.
In other words, Arkansas could really use $20,000 to invest in services and good governance. Instead, Sanders chose a custom-made podium.
The people always come first, right?
cuteguy
Sarah is representative of what the current GQP is, a modern day Nazi Party. It is pore evil
abfab
Yes. A vile group of people.
Why didn’t she just accidentally take home the press room podium when she departed?
m
Well, they voted for this nazi ass. If they cared enough, they’d do something about it
Jim
Fascism comes about slowly and steadily
lack of transparency is one of their tools
still_onthemark
“Sarah Huckabee Sanders really doesn’t want anyone to know she blew $20K on THIS…”
Damn, my first guess was Cinnabon and my second guess was deep-fried cheesecake. (I’m just guessing the latter is an Arkansas thing.)
abfab
Isn’t there a Huckabee’s in Ark?
abfab
A friendly reminder about the GOPTROLLS that lurk here among us. And you know who you are.
Log Cabin Defends Gov. Huckabee Sanders Latinx Ban in Associated Press
Jan 26, 2023 | Uncategorized
Newly-inaugurated Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order last week banning government agencies from using the term ‘Latinx’ when communicating with or about the state’s Hispanic communities.
The order sparked an uproar among the Woke Left, but Log Cabin Republicans President Charles Moran waded into the debate to defend Governor Sanders’ decision, telling the Associated Press that the term is a “misguided product of the modern left’s relentless obsession with stripping gender from American life.”
The Log Cabin Republicans, which represents LGBT members of the party, praised Sanders’ order.
“The term Latinx is just another misguided product of the modern left’s relentless obsession with stripping gender from American life, an obsession that LGBT conservatives fight back against daily,” Charles Moran, the group’s president, said in a statement.
The Log Cabin Republicans isn’t afraid to stand up to the radical LGBT Left and will always support and defend Republicans who do the same.
decrans
How presumptive of you to corral your white privilege to demand minorities acquiesce to your Orwellian groupthink jargon, the vast majority of which uses Latino to describe their own ethnicity? White libs gonna lib.
abfab
Hello Charles T. Moran Log Cabin Queen!
The head of Log Cabin Republicans has written a commentary piece for USA Today….blah blah blah.
”Moran asserted that Donald Trump made the Republican Party inclusive. “It’s difficult to understand just how game-changing Trump’s presidential campaigns and presidency were for LGBT conservatives, who were suddenly included as welcome members of the party after decades of being sidelined,” he said.”
RoyM
Log Cabin queens are, like all conservatives, just lying, evil human garbage.
Kangol2
So inclusive he appointed more openly anti-LGBTQ judges to the federal judiciary than any other President in US history, with the support of the Republicans in Congress and the GOP in general! In truth, Don the Con’s record on LGBTQ issues is hideous. Just go to HRC and look it up.
white-queer-african
Take two! My comment is awaiting moderation?
Let me tone it down.
SHM, liar second in line behind trump.
Grifter that learned from the master.
F*ck them both.
Check out Meidas Touch on YouTube. Fighting for our rights and democracy.
quantum
Remembering the episode of Veep where Selena’s campaign legally purchases a 1200 dollar titanium-reinforced crate for her to soapbox from. The scandal was the profound waste of money.
“Podium” is often incorrectly used to describe “lecterns”. You stand on a podium, at a lectern. I don’t know why I know that.
RoyM
Huckabee Sanders is a grifter, just like her father who was caught accepting gifts (bribes) on more than one occasion. But this is Arkansas. They welcome crooks in their Government as long as the crook is a totally amoral, hate and greed driven neo-Nazi. Arkansans are ignorant hillbillies without an active brain cell or moral compass to be found. I hope Sarah steals the state blind.
still_onthemark
“Arkansans are ignorant hillbillies without an active brain cell or moral compass to be found.”
Every single one? Even the Black ones? Even the gay ones in Eureka Springs? Even people who voted for Bill Clinton for governor seven times? You sure are fond of blanket statements!
Kangol2
I get your frustration, but you’re unfairly generalizing about Arkansas. You do realize that Black Arkansans overwhelmingly voted against Huckabeast, right? Are they “ignorant hillbillies”? They’re stuck with this creature, just as the Black people in Mississippi, who did not vote for their ignoramus, homophobic and transphobic, racist governor, are stuck with him. Same with DeSantis; the only group of voters in Florida who overwhelming voted against that fascist, anti-LGBTQ creep, were Black voters.
abfab
Perhaps that was Roy M’s way of asking to be edumicated. And y’all did just that! Bravo!
Mack
That $20,000 is more than what most people in Arkansas makes in a year.