Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ political career has made history — but not always the good kind. Sanders is a Donald Trump loyalist, and she proved this during the president’s first term as his second White House press secretary. Sanders faced persistent controversy while working at the White House, mostly because she was often caught lying to the press to protect Trump’s interests. This led to a few uncomfortable and widely publicized interactions with reporters, none of which did Sanders’ image any favors.

Advertisement

Sanders, like her boss, wasn’t a stickler for the rules, and she eventually opted to forfeit traditional press briefings, instead addressing members of the press from the White House driveway or the safer confines of Fox News. Thanks to twisting and often blatantly disregarding the truth, Sanders’ words didn’t carry a lot of weight with most news outlets. “Sanders did a disservice to the Office of the Press Secretary and the American public from the moment she took the job,” former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart told NBC News after Sanders announced her resignation in mid-2019. At this point, Sanders hadn’t hosted an official daily press briefing for 94 consecutive days, yet she claimed, “I still contend that we are the most accessible White House.”

Advertisement

While one might wonder exactly why Sanders decided to vacate the sought-after position of White House press secretary, it might be safe to say that the public will never know the whole truth. Sanders indicated she wanted to spend more time with her kids, and White House aides insisted no behind-the-scenes drama went down between Trump and the press secretary. However, one cannot help but wonder whether her many controversies played a significant part in Sanders’ decision to step down, many of which have been seared into the memories of the American people.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders put her foot firmly in her mouth when she decided to mock former President Joe Biden’s stutter during a 2019 Democratic debate. Sanders took to X, formerly Twitter, to make fun of the former president’s speech, writing, “I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I hhhave absolutely no idea what Biden is talking about.” In the fallout that followed, Sanders deleted the post, but it lived on in screenshots, with author and activist Shannon Watts brutally calling out the former White House press secretary for her derogatory comment, saying she clearly wasn’t fit to be the governor of Arkansas (a position Sanders was eyeing at the time). “[I] feel sorry for any constituents she’d represent who have a disability,” Watts wrote.

Advertisement

To make matters even worse for Sanders, Biden took to X to confront her head-on with a brutal tweet of his own. “I’ve worked my whole life to overcome a stutter. And it’s my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. It’s called empathy. Look it up,” he shared. With the water getting ever hotter, Sanders followed up her first tweet with an apology (which she’s also since deleted). “I actually didn’t know that about you and that is commendable,” she wrote in response to Biden’s tweet (via CBS News). I apologize and should have made my point respectfully.” The fact that none of Sanders’ tweets regarding this matter still exist seems to indicate she’d rather forget the sordid affair.

Advertisement

The Trump administration might be touting their efforts to curb what they deem unnecessary government spending during President Donald Trump’s second term, but it seems this is something Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldn’t have been on board with had she followed the president to the White House a second time. In 2023, she found herself making headlines for all the wrong reasons when it came to light that she spent $19,000 in taxpayer dollars on a podium, which, for its price tag, looks surprisingly ordinary.

Advertisement

Matt Campbell, an Arkansas attorney, is the one who opened the can of worms that would later become known as #LecternGate and “PodiumGate on social media. In a probe that followed the allegations, Sanders and her colleagues were found to have possibly broken several state laws in acquiring the podium, one of which was destroying evidence. The audit found that one of Sanders’ staff members destroyed the lectern’s bill of lading, among other things. Sanders’ office tried to explain the hefty price tag by claiming the lectern had been custom-built for Sanders’ height and featured unique additions like microphones for better sound. It turned out the microphones and superior sound quality were non-existent, and the only addition was an ordinary light. The report also indicated that Sanders could have gotten a similar podium for $7000.

Advertisement

Sanders denied any wrongdoing, and when the podium first became a national scandal, she told reporters that she was happy to concede to an audit, calling the entire affair “a manufactured controversy” (via ABC News). Amid the media tempest, the Arkansas Republican Party attempted to quell tempers by reimbursing the money Sanders spent on the pricey lectern.

In an embarrassing incident Sarah Huckabee Sanders would likely rather forget, the former White House press secretary was thrown out of a restaurant because of her association with President Donald Trump. Sanders, along with her family, was dining at the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia, in 2018, when the owner asked her to leave the establishment after consulting with her staff, who all agreed they weren’t comfortable serving Sanders. The incident followed the Trump administration’s brutal crackdown on immigration, causing over 2,000 immigrant children to become separated from their parents.

Advertisement

Sanders parroted her boss in her response to being asked to leave the establishment, hopping on X to air her grievances. She recounted being asked to leave and said she did so without a fuss. “Her [the restaurant owner’s] actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so,” Sanders posted. However, it later came to light that tweeting this on her professional press secretary account wasn’t exactly, er, legal. Former head of the ethics office, Walter Shaub, took to X to point out Sanders’ error. “Sanders used her official govt account to condemn a private business for personal reasons … she can lob attacks on her own time but not using her official position,” he wrote (via The Guardian).

Advertisement

Likely because she didn’t get a scolding from Trump, Sanders never deleted the tweet. In fact, the president took to X himself to criticize the restaurant and praise Sanders. He claimed the establishment is “filthy” and “badly needs a paint job” while calling Sanders “a fine person.”

Despite Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ claims that she treats people with respect regardless of whether she agrees with them, her actions seemed to indicate that the opposite is true when she got involved in a shouting match with the White House counsel in 2018.

Advertisement

Those who were keeping up with the tempest that was President Donald Trump’s first term will remember the scandal surrounding White House staff secretary Rob Porter. Both Porter’s ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse, citing it as the reason they decided to divorce him. Porter called the allegations “outrageous” and “a smear campaign” (via CNN). When Sanders was asked about the allegations by the press, she was blindsided, and she reportedly did not take kindly to being made to look the fool in front of reporters.

White House Counsel Don McGahn bore the brunt of Sanders’ anger in full view of other White House staffers, who eventually spilled details about the exchange to the press. Insiders told The Washington Post that Sanders confronted McGhan in one of the White House hallways, and he was subjected to yelling and colorful cursing from the press secretary as she sought clarity on the allegations surrounding Porter, expressing her discontentment with being kept in the dark on the matter. Despite Porter’s vehement denials of the allegations, he eventually resigned from office.

Advertisement

Sarah Huckabee Sanders weathered countless controversial moments as the White House press secretary, but one that will likely haunt the governor of Arkansas forever is the one time she failed to show empathy towards the migrant children who were being separated from their parents at the border. This was a result of President Donald Trump doubling down on border security in 2018. Children watched their parents being hauled off to jail while they were placed in the U.S. government’s care. In May 2018, the number of children who had been separated from their parents stood at 2,700.

Advertisement

As Sanders fielded difficult questions from reporters demanding to know how the administration could condone what was happening at the country’s border, she failed to show any empathy towards the kids who had been affected, even taking a jab at reporter Jim Acosta, who was refusing to let her off the hook. “I know it’s hard for you to understand even short sentences,” Sanders told Acosta (via X), before blaming the Democrats for the situation at the border, claiming the party was responsible for the laws being enforced that were separating families. Acosta continued to push her, asking, “Why is the government doing this?” Sanders responded, “Because it’s the law, and that’s what the law states.”

Advertisement

Another reporter quickly pointed out that Sanders’ statements were misleading and that the Trump administration had made the decision to criminally prosecute those who were crossing the border illegally, leading to the separation of families. As Sanders recycled her answer to Acosta’s questions, journalist Brian Karem interjected, asking, “Don’t you have any empathy? Come on, Sarah, you’re a parent.” Sanders accused Karem of simply vying for more air time before proceeding to completely ignore him.

In what was decidedly not a night to remember, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was brutally roasted by comedian Michelle Wolf in April 2018 at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. She wasn’t the only one — President Donald Trump also got his turn, but he had the good sense (for once) not to show up.

Advertisement

The press secretary was sitting mere feet away from Wolf, who didn’t mince her words and demolished Sanders as some people in the crowd laughed awkwardly. “Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited because I’m not really not sure what we’re gonna get — a press briefing or a bunch of lies,” Wolf quipped. “I actually really like Sarah, she’s actually really resourceful. She burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies,” Wolf continued as Sanders tried and failed to maintain a poker face. In her book, “Speaking for Myself” — which revealed plenty of surprising details about Sanders — the former press secretary admitted that Wolf’s comments got under her skin.

Advertisement

Wolf’s brutal roast received plenty of criticism afterward, including from those who booked her for the event. Even MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski took to X to denounce Wolf’s comments in a since-deleted tweet. “Watching a wife and mother be humiliated on national television for her looks is deplorable,” she wrote (via Mashable). The White House Correspondents’ Association issued a statement on X in the aftermath, saying its main goal is to promote unity and that Wolf’s commentary about Sanders “was not in the spirit of that mission.” Pundits quickly called out the organization, with one accusing it of “covering for liars,” adding, “Do your damn jobs. Michelle Wolf did hers.”