Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders supports former President Trump in the presidential race

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) — Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee SandersHe, who served as press secretary for former President Donald Trump, on Monday endorsed his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump said in a statement that Sanders, who took office as governor of Arkansas in January after campaigning in which she touted the former president’s support for her, intends to join Trump at a rally in Florida on Wednesday.

“It’s not a question of right versus left anymore. It’s normal versus insanity, and President Biden and the left are doubling down on insanity,” Sanders said in a statement. “It’s time to return to the normal policies of the Trump era that created a safer, stronger, more prosperous America,” Sanders said in a statement. “That’s why I’m proud to endorse Donald Trump for president.”

NBC first reported Sanders’ endorsement of the former president. The two will appear together in Florida on Wednesday, the same day they will face off against Trump’s rivals for the nomination in the third GOP presidential debate.

“We have had great success in the White House, and it is a great honor to have Sarah’s endorsement,” Trump said. “I look forward to having her at the big rally in Hialeah on Wednesday.”

Despite being one of Trump’s closest aides and staunchest defenders during his time in the White House, Sanders has avoided supporting him or anyone else in the crowded Republican presidential race over the past few months.

The GOP field includes Sanders’ predecessor, Former Governor Asa Hutchinson, who was one of the few Republican candidates willing to confront Trump directly. He had called on the former president to withdraw from the race after Trump He was indicted by a grand jury in March in New York. Sanders was not expected to support Hutchinson’s bid for the Republican nomination.

Trump publicly encouraged Sanders to run for governor when she left the White House in 2019 to return to Arkansas. As a candidate and after taking office, Sanders has embraced many of his goals, including critical race theory and the media.

Sanders in February delivered Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, leaning heavily into culture war issues and accusing Biden of pursuing “woke delusions.” Sanders signed several measures welcomed by state conservatives into law, including education reform Who created the new school voucher program.

But Sanders has also faced questions over the past few weeks about A.J Pulpit, $19,000 The purchase was made for her office, leading to an audit and allegations that her office illegally altered public records.