Taylor Swift wasn’t the only high-profile Kansas City Chiefs fan to receive VIP treatment at the Super Bowl earlier this month.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders was there, too!
The Arkansas governor and her family enjoyed a lavish trip to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII, complete with on-field access and admission to the Chiefs’ victory party. We know this because Sanders plastered the pictures all over Instagram.
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While the affair looked like a wonderful time, there is one burning question.
Who paid?!?
With an average ticket price of $8,600, attending the Super Bowl wasn’t cheap. And from the looks of it, Sanders and her clan didn’t just enjoy an average experience. They were true VIPs, snapping pictures on the field before the game and celebrating with the winners afterwards.
It’s fair to say Sanders’ package cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. She enjoyed the game from a luxury suite, reports Talking Points Memo. And suites started at $180,000 for four tickets, according to DAZN.
And we haven’t even gotten to the flights and lodging.
The average prices for hotel rooms in Vegas over Super Bowl weekend were $758 and $808. They were the highest room rates in continental U.S. history; and again, we’re just talking about the average prices for Saturday and Sunday.
It’s likely that Sanders’ hotel bill was thousands of dollars as well. Roundtrip plane tickets for her family of five probably cost thousands, too.
Again, who was paying for this?!
Reporters tried to answer the question for weeks, only to be stonewalled at every turn. Talking Points Memo says Sanders’ office didn’t respond to any inquiries about the matter.
Related:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders continues to drive her state further & further into the ground
The gay-hating governor rejected this week expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months.
That is, until Wednesday, when a spokesperson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sarah and her husband, Bryan, paid their own way.
But excuse us if that sounds a little fishy. As Arkansas governor, Sanders’ annual salary is $158,749. That’s a nice living, but not nearly enough to afford a luxury Super Bowl getaway.
The weekend almost certainly cost a whole lot more than that!
One way journalists and concerned citizens often find out about the spending habits of their elected officials is through Freedom of Information Act requests. But Sanders altered Arkansas’ FOIA laws last fall, making it more difficult to access information.
The politico nepo baby called a special legislative session to change the FOIA laws, and ultimately signed a bill shielding her persona security records from the public. But it’s worth pointing out she originally wanted to go a lot further.
Sanders’ desire for secrecy was so extreme, the Republican-dominated state legislature rejected her first two attempts to change the rules.
“We had the most eclectic and diverse group of Arkansans show up to oppose that bill that I have ever witnessed in 40 years of political involvement,” said Nate Bell, a former state legislator.
This is far from the first time that Sanders’ spending has come under scrutiny, and she’s only been governor for roughly 14 months. Up until this point, her biggest grift was buying a nearly $20,000 podium ($19,029.25, to be exact).
An enterprising investigative reporter discovered the lectern was purchased with state funds, only for Sanders’ office to blame the documentation on an “accounting error.” The state wasn’t reimbursed until mid-September, despite the podium being purchased in June.
Also, the podium wasn’t delivered until August. (Arkansas’ audit of the curious purchase is expected to be completed by the end of March, after months of investigating.)
It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Sanders to bill Arkansas taxpayers for frivolous expenses. Last summer, the gay-hating governor took a break from attacking LGBTQ+ people to go on a taxpayer-funded European vacation.
The trip was billed as an “overseas trade mission,” though it’s uncertain what kind of international trade mission would apply to Sanders’ duties as governor.
But one of those duties appears to be throwing rockin’ football tailgates! Sanders billed her taxpaying constituents $13,000 last September for a college football kickoff party, documents show.
Meanwhile, Sanders continues to drive her state further into the ground. Just last week, the supposedly pro-life politician rejected expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months. Arkansas had the highest known rate of maternal mortality in the U.S. from 2018 to 2020, according to the CDC.
Last year, Arkansas abruptly removed more than 400,000 people from the Medicaid roles as well.
There’s no money for poor people’s healthcare, but plenty of cash for football parties and exorbitantly expensive podiums. If there were a Super Bowl of grifting, Sanders would undoubtedly be the favorite.
No word on how pricey tickets would be.
Related:
Was Sarah Huckabee Sanders just caught in a Super Bowl-sized grift?
The Arkansas governor enjoyed a lavish trip to this year’s Super Bowl, and we don’t know who paid.
ShaverC
“As Arkansas governor, Sanders’ annual salary is $158,749. That’s a nice living, but not nearly enough to afford a luxury Super Bowl getaway.”
Uhm, I’ve been asking the same thing about Joe Biden. His salary never went above $200,000 how does he own multiple million dollar homes?
Mattster
A simple Google search would answer this question. Forbes did an in-depth article on this with considerable detail, because unlike Trump, Biden releases his tax returns and financial information.
Most of his and his wife’s money came from book deals and speaking engagements after he was vice president.
They also both have excellent pension income, public service generally pays far less than the private industry equivalent but tends to have excellent benefits.
It’s odd that conservatives applaud the wealth of their heroes as evidence of success and hard work, even when it’s actually mostly inherited, but if someone who’s liberal is wealthy (even moderately so) something is clearly amiss.
abfab
Another market ShaverC has never waded into. Real Estate. Obvious from his UHM? question.
It’s too late now shaves. You’d spend the rest of your days underwater…..
dbmcvey
Shaves: LOOK OVER THERE!
Baron Wiseman
@Mattster
That would be great, however, did President Biden declare all the millions in laundered money he (and his family) have received?
Biden set up over 20 shell companies and made a concerted effort to hide payments from foreign adversaries. What service did these companies provide? Nothing; they are not legitimate companies.
Found 170 major bank violations from 6 major banks and alleged the Bidens were, among other things, money-laundering and receiving suspicious wires from state-owned entities.
A bank is alleging the Bidens took a suspicious wire from the Chinese government and laundered it through one of their 22 shell companies. (Yes, 22 shell companies. How many do you have? Me? Zero.)
Money has been received from foreign entities and laundered through the shell companies and received by nine Biden family members. Even the President’s granddaughter received a wire from Romania, laundered through a shell company, days after Biden left Romania when he was Vice President.
Joe Biden used at least 3 pseudonyms on over 5000 emails.
FBI form FD-1023 was found alleging Biden took a bribe (which the FBI never investigated, naturally).
Testimony from Devon Archer saying that at that same time period Joe Biden went to Ukraine to fire the prosecutor, Hunter was being squeezed by the owners of Burisma to call DC for help. Biden recounting the Burisma firing is on videotape.
The Committee gained access to a FD-1023 form alleging then-Vice President Biden and Hunter Biden received $5 million as part of a bribery scheme. The form was not shared with tax investigators.
This is just the beginning; I could go on and on. If you don’t know of this information, you are in deep need of challenging your “news sources.” The Bidens have received over $20 million. For what? Nobody seems to have an answer. This is an ongoing investigation, still more to come….
abfab
But you DO go on and on. That’s the only part that stood out Baron. Keep knocking yourself out. The queer world knows by now how long winded and full of shit you are. Go on and on. And get nowhere.
dbmcvey
How you doing on learning about the Southern Strategy, Barren?
ShaverC
Mattster, I read that Forbes puff piece and it doesn’t add up. He bought a mansion on a slightly better than average salary in 1975, how? especially considering he was also paying mortgage for that 85 acres of land he bought in his 20’s fresh out of law school and with the salary of a public defender?
zehfyrsez
BW –
You refer to the Form FD-1023 that was submitted by Alexander Smirnov and was later determined to be full of lies by Trump appointed federal prosecutor David Weiss? Smirnov, of course, was just arrested for making false statements to a federal agent and for submitting falsified records in a federal investigation.
So you had to reach back and cite convicted felon Devon Archer, who made unfounded accusations against his former business partner Hunter Biden in an unsuccessful attempt to blackmail the Biden family. Accusations he later recanted. Archer was convicted of fraud, then lost an appeal to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, and had his appeal to the Supreme Court denied. It only takes four of the Justices to agree to hear an appeal, and he couldn’t even get four of the six whacked-out conservatives to agree. That’s how weak his appeal was.
But don’t worry. Your MAGAts in the House Judiciary Committee have just assured us all that Alexander Smirnov was just a small piece of their impeachment inquiry. They still got…stuff?
zehfyrsez
BW –
P.S.
The rest of your accusations don’t even have fraudulent documents or the testimony of liars to back them up.
Baron Wiseman
@zehfyrsez
Fraudulent documents!?!
That’s rich! Since when are bank records fraudulent documents? Since when are video tape confessions fraudulent? Someone has been watching MSDNC.
I will admit, it is terribly frightening that a long term trusted government employee suddenly gets arrested when he turns on the president and his family. Funny how that happens.
storm45701
Since he made multiple millions of dollars from book deals and speaking fees, I’m sure he can afford a nice home. It’s also called a jumbo mortgage, dimwit.
dbmcvey
Barren,
You mean like the bank documents that prove Trump committed fraud. I agree with you there.
Mack
Probably took it out of the State Education funds. God knows they don’t want to educate their kids in the Red States. Keep them dumb so they vote for people like her.
abfab
Dear Mack,
The ”keep them dumb” part is still working…..big time. As evidenced by the republican trolls here and in The Log Cabin Club. Add to that the poor children deprived of a proper education by the home schooling crowd. A most viscious cycle of ignorance never ending.
decrans
Ah, yes. Little Trumpy McAbs’s molten lava cycle of ignorance. Snort.
LumpyPillows
Barron, darling, you are looking like a democrat – fighting battles best left be. Joe Biden never laundered money. That’s your guy.
There are many ways for Senators to augment their income legally. Just throwing out the red herring that he owns two houses is proof of nothing. My coworker owns 5…4 rentals. He isn’t a crook either.
Trump is a crook. No sane, honest person can deny that. Even a court has said so. And we’ve all seen the evidence…and the guilty pleas from his goons. I think the penalty might be a bit much, but he is certainly a crook.
Joe Biden has his faults, but he isn’t a crook.
Kaise Cooper
Hey Baron Wiseman, you should really give all that information on the Biden’s to Comer and Jordan they could really use the help. Oh wait, everything has been disproven.
Instead of reading fairy tales maybe you should watch your boys on C-SPAN and see how they continuously crash and burn.
Baron Wiseman
@Kaise Cooper
Nice try, pumpkin. Nothing that I just posted is in dispute. If you think something is wrong, or has been disproven; be specific and let me know.
……crickets…..
abfab
That request/demand of yours Wiseman would take years. Where would Kaise or anyone else for that matter begin that task. Trust him…you’re wrong.
LumpyPillows
Yeah, it was all lies.
Fahd
Which branch of government should be investigating Sanders for misuse of public funds (corruption)? The federal Department of Justice? She did cross state lines in attending the Superbowl.
What’s missing in the summary of her wrongdoing above is who in government should be investigating her. Maybe if the investigative journalists that Queerty relies on as sources keep up the pressure an investigation will be initiated.
abfab
Miss Sarah had a new set of Chiklits installed in that lying mouth of hers. Now do something with your hair if you want to keep getting yourself in hot water and be in the news. You’re atrocious and you’re a bigot.
Baron Wiseman
In just the last few days, illegal aliens have been arrested for:
• Murdering a college student in Georgia
• Murdering a 2-year-old boy in Maryland
• Raping a minor in Virginia
• Raping a minor at knifepoint in Louisiana
• Shooting three DC police officers
This is what Joe Biden has created for our country. He cares more about criminals than American citizens. The purposeful harm he is inflicting on Americans is not going to end anytime soon. More Americans will be raped, murdered and victimized in Joe Biden’s America.
abfab
In just the last few days:
Americans have been arrested for……….
sickofthehate
Actually stats have come out that crime from immigrant heavy cities has gone DOWN. So get the facts and then argue from a knowledgeable side. Don’t just quote what one side says over and over again. Even after caught following lies they continue to push the lies as facts.
Baron Wiseman
@sickofthehate
These are FACTS. These are not lies. It is the real world. These murders and rapes and crimes are occuring virtually every day now by people that are ILLEGAL and should not be in the U.S.
Joe Biden has invited these criminals into our country by the MILLIONS.
Why do you defend the indefensible? Why are funerals for Americans fine with you?
abfab
You ask the most insane questions.
dbmcvey
@abfab,
Insane or irrelevant?
Or both!
dbmcvey
They must pay you by the hour Barren.
I hope they think you’re worth it.
Mack
You want to talk about arrests? Lets look at the ministers, Priest, and Youth ministers arrested for child molestation in the red states. Way more in the last couple of days than the five arrests you named.
abfab
It’s clear. They DON’T want to talk about it. The fetuses they adore, the altar boys they r a p e, the women are vessels and sperm buckets. That’s an HONEST conservative republican.
Beanie16
Mack to answer just part of your question, in 2023 over 14 Christian ministers and Youth Ministers were arrested for raping children in Texass alone…that doesn’t count all of the others across the US raising the count to well over the 100’s. Several red states have not only lowered the working age, they had to because the Republicans shield the wealthy price gouging inflation causing greedy corporations from paying livable wages, but they also kept or lower the age a child can legally be married to 12&14, of course the majority of the 12&14yrold applicants are the “brides”. And the the top 5 states for human trafficking and child sexual assaults are all red states. Grift, and theses queeens are supporting it…. Baron De Kapo should be your name Miss Basement Dweller
abfab
Thank you for telling it, Mack, Beanie. The sad truth.
Invader7
As compared to white and other non white US citizens committing all sorts of felonies. Including your hero Don the Con Trump.
LumpyPillows
No one, including President Biden, is arguing that we don’t need much better controls on immigration. Only the republicans are willing to sacrifice better controls for power.
The real truth is the majority of immigrants are not violent criminals and the statistics back that up. The key difference is that we don’t vilify immigrants as easy punching bags, which makes us the better Christians. That’s the real difference, not a desire to have well-managed immigration. And, mark my words, we will in only a few years learn how helpful immigration is to the US’ economy with our plummeting birth rate.
I will give Trump some credit, he did identify immigration as a problem. He then did nothing about it, except to promote a wall that no rational person believes can work. The Chinses found that out the hard way. It almost worked in Berlin, but it required guards and dogs and land mines and still ultimately failed. Trump is a bloviating moron when all things are considered.
If you really want to stop immigration, work with the countries they are coming from to improve conditions. But, as I said, you might want them to keep coming to mow your lawns, build your houses and get you into and out of your wheelchair.
mildredspierce
I see the Ozempic is finally working. Her face is much more ….stark.
abfab
She is going to Korea next week. Needs to fit into tighter skirts. Look sexy while begging for business. Miracles do happen, you know.
Invader7
Sarah H. looks like a man !!!
abfab
”HE LOOKA LIKKA MAN!”
Hello Miss Swann
LumpyPillows
I do love Ms. Swan. This is misogynistic, however.