Speaking for Myself

by Sarah Huckabee Sanders

  As the Democrats marched forward with impeachment, President Trump had an impressive record to be proud of—a stronger economy, historic tax cuts and deregulation, rising wages, fifty-year-low unemployment, better trade deals, energy dominance, a rebuilt military, victory over the ISIS caliphate, the wall going up, and 200-plus federal judges confirmed, including a more conservative Supreme Court. The Democrats had no case against him. They only wanted to impeach President Trump because he was winning.

  In the midst of the impeachment fight, I traveled with President Trump to Michigan and Iowa ahead of the Iowa caucus.

  At a rally in Des Moines the president said, “We have somebody named Sarah Sanders. Have you ever heard of her?”

  The crowd roared.

  “That’s pretty good!” said President Trump. “Come here, Sarah!”

  I walked onstage in front of thousands of cheering Trump supporters in the packed arena.

  “How much do we love this president?” The crowd went wild. “This is an incredibly special place,” I said. “I actually met my husband here in Des Moines so I love being back in Iowa.… We’re sorry you have so many crazy liberal Democrats running around here the last year, but the good news is it’s not going to matter because at the end of the day, this guy will still be our president!”

  When all else failed, Democrats resorted to impeachment because they were afraid they’d lose the 2020 election. But President Trump won and Joe Biden lost the impeachment fight. The president was aided in that fight by a superb team, led by White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, a devout Catholic and father of ten, who masterfully defended the president and cemented his place in the president’s inner circle. When the Senate acquitted and vindicated President Trump, his approval rating hit an all-time high in the Gallup poll.

  As Democrats harassed President Trump, the president was busy killing the world’s most dangerous terrorists. President Trump ordered the successful raid in Syria that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who had the blood of thousands of American troops on his hands. President Trump was sending a clear message to our adversaries to never mess with America—a force for good against evil in a dangerous world.

  The president was riding high as he delivered his State of the Union address on February 4, 2020, a speech that made a compelling case for four more years and that ended with Nancy Pelosi tearing up her copy of it in a fit of rage. One line that didn’t get much attention at the time was about the threat of a mysterious, deadly virus from Wuhan, China.

  “Protecting Americans’ health also means fighting infectious diseases,” said the president in the State of the Union. “We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat.”

  The week before, on January 31, President Trump had declared the coronavirus a public health emergency and announced travel restrictions for China. While the president and his team were starting preparations in the event of an outbreak in the United States, many leading Democrats in Washington were too distracted by impeachment to care about the emerging threat.

  I talked to President Trump on the phone the day he declared the national emergency. “The American people want you to lead and be strong on this,” I said. “Your decision today was a good one. Keep it up.”

  Despite criticism from Democrats and the media, the president made the right call with the China travel ban. He was also right to declare a national emergency and implement social distancing guidelines—not forever, but until we flattened the curve—which likely prevented the failure of hospitals and saved many American lives.

  Bryan and I called my parents, my brother David and sister-in- law Lauren, as well as Bryan’s parents, and we all agreed to self-quarantine until the worst of the outbreak had passed so that we could continue to safely be around each other. Once the kids’ school closed—and likely to their detriment—we started to homeschool them together with David and Lauren’s three kids. I quickly developed an even greater appreciation for their amazing, talented, and very patient teachers! And I thought my job in the White House was hard!

  A typical morning of homeschool started with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, with two kids assigned each day to hold the American flag. My sister-in-law Lauren and I taught the second-graders, Scarlett and her cousin Chandler. Bryan and my brother David taught the kindergarteners, Huck and his cousin Caroline. The youngest kids—George (four) and his cousin Thatcher (two)—ran wild, disrupting our lessons. For recess, which we had much more of than in regular school, we’d play four square, kickball or basketball, ride bikes, or go swimming. The kids were disappointed not to see their friends, but having their cousins, parents, and grandparents around made up for it. The kids loved having “Papa Mike” lead Sunday school.

  Every night at bedtime George prayed that no one in our family would die from the virus. That was tough to hear from a four-year-old, but we leaned on our faith, taking it one day at a time and focusing on the positive. I had gone from the White House to homeschooling, but it was time I needed to reconnect with my family after three and a half years working for the president. At times it was hard not being there in the White House, but I was grateful to God for all He had given us, knowing He had a plan and I could trust Him no matter the circumstances.

  My husband and I wanted to help people hurting during the crisis. After talking to my friends Phil Cox and Pete Snyder in Virginia about a nonprofit Pete had launched to help small businesses save jobs in his state, my husband and I founded a similar organization called the Arkansas 30 Day Fund to provide forgivable loans to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. It wasn’t a government program. We wrote the first check to get us started and raised charitable donations from other Arkansans to help struggling small businesses bridge the gap until they got relief from the government or demand returned for their product or service. It was quick, easy, and free of red tape. Arkansas State University vetted the applicants. Top business and political leaders came on board to support us. It was a partnership of people who might not agree on anything other than helping others in our community in need, and it worked.

  It was an all-volunteer effort, and we couldn’t have done it without the help of many of our closest friends. Ashley and Chris Caldwell, Jordan and Noah Rhodes, Janis and Jim Terry, Megan Turner, Jordan Powell, Cathy Lanier, Chip Saltsman, and Karen and Aaron Black—lifelong friends who I had grown up with, battled alongside on campaigns, and who had helped our family pack up and move to Washington to join the Trump administration and then unpack after our move home to Arkansas—set aside their work and family commitments to volunteer their time, money, sweat, and tears to help us save jobs.

  Within days of our launch, the Arkansas 30 Day Fund had received hundreds of applications and we started distributing funds to small businesses all across our state. Many of the small businesses we funded were owned by African Americans and by women. One of the first was Belle Starr Antiques & Vintage Market, owned by Beth Price in Fort Smith. In her testimonial video, Beth toured us through her beautiful showroom and spoke passionately about the eighty vendors who sell their products at Belle Starr and rely on her. “Essentially we are creating and supporting eighty small businesses within my business,” Beth said. She paused, choking up. “This is my heart. This is my soul. I operate from it and I’m working 100 percent harder for 75 percent less results. So any assistance we can gain … we are here and we appreciate it.”

  I did a Zoom call with Beth a few days later and told her our team had awarded Belle Starr our maximum forgivable loan, which she didn’t need to repay. Like so many other small business owners we awarded funds to, Beth broke down and cried. “I’m just so thankful,” she said as tears ran down her face. “We have applied for every possible loan that’s been out there since all of this started and everything’s been shut dow
n, and we haven’t received any assistance. So I just can’t tell you my absolute gratitude for what you guys are doing and how much it really, really, really is going to help us.”

  As many Americans came together to help one another during the pandemic, it was disheartening to watch Joe Biden’s campaign and many of his liberal allies in the media politicize it. During a Fox News appearance, I said, “It’s easy for Joe Biden to launch attacks from his basement bunker. It’s much harder to actually lead in a crisis and work tirelessly to save lives and livelihoods as the president is doing.”

  The next day President Trump called me and said, “I was planning to call you last night after I watched you do an amazing job on Hannity but I’m glad I waited until this morning because you were even better on Fox & Friends. You need to be on TV more!”

  He then moved on to the daily press briefings he’d been doing from the White House and said, “Now I know what you were going through. From the moment you walk in the door you can see it on many of their faces how much they hate you!”

  “It’s tough,” I said. “And don’t forget … many days you didn’t make my job any easier!”

  He laughed.

  “Continue to lead,” I said. “Keep going around the media and taking your message directly to the American people.”

  “You know, Sarah. If there’s one good thing that comes out of this it may be people will forever quit shaking hands.”

  The president, a notorious germophobe, added, “I mean, sometimes people I don’t even know go in for the hug! I know nothing can replace the warm embrace of a hug, but come on!”

  He then asked again if I’d run for governor.

  “I’ll make a decision after we get you reelected,” I said. “But if I do run, you know that means you’re going to have to come to Arkansas.”

  “Of course,” said the president. “I’ll be there for you, and you know what else? You’re going to win.”

  Along with the great economy, the pandemic had derailed the president’s reelection strategy. From his basement bunker, Joe Biden used the crisis to attack the president. Joe Biden should have directed his attacks at China, which unleashed the deadly pandemic on the world, but Biden was a friend of China. He said “a rising China is a positive development,” his son Hunter cofounded and served on the board of a major investment company there called Bohai Harvest RST, and he initially opposed President Trump’s China travel ban that saved American lives.

  Biden just didn’t get it. China was our adversary, not our friend. Either America would lead the world in the twenty-first century or China would. Under President Trump, it would always be America first. Could the same be said of a President Biden?

  A second term for President Trump would be better for all Americans than the Democratic alternative: a weaker military, liberal judges, higher taxes, and bigger government. Until the pandemic hit, our economy had never been stronger. African American and Hispanic unemployment was at an all-time low thanks to President Trump, who had done far more to empower minorities with better jobs, higher wages, and hope for a better future than Joe Biden ever had. President Trump rebuilt our economy before. He could be trusted to do it again.

  Even though President Trump was the incumbent, he was still the outsider, disruptor, and change agent against Biden, the ultimate Washington insider and representative of the status quo. Biden was a liberal career politician who has been part of the problem for fifty years. He was for bad trade deals and free healthcare and government benefits for illegal immigrants, none of which helped American workers. And “nice guy” Joe Biden with all his “empathy” and “compassion” supported taxpayer-funded abortion, showing no compassion whatsoever for the weakest and most vulnerable among us—the unborn child.

  The Democratic Party had been hijacked by the left, who actually believe they know how to protect our families, choose our healthcare, run our businesses, and spend our money better than we do. Wake up, America—our freedom, prosperity, and way of life are on the line in the 2020 election. And don’t think for a moment this campaign is going to be easy. Some of the most powerful forces in the world—the liberal media, Hollywood, academia, big government, and China—are aligned against us. The America we love is under attack, and we must fight for it.

  After the 2020 election, the American people will have to put aside some of our differences to face the tremendous challenges before us: a deadly pandemic and its toll on our economy, social unrest, and the dangerous threat of a rising China. We can either be divided and fail or start coming together and prevail. It will not be easy, but we are Americans, and there is nothing we can’t do united as one nation under God.

  As has been the case for all of human history, we are in the midst of an epic battle between good and evil. America must continue to be a force for good in that battle. As C. S. Lewis once said, “Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won’t last forever. We must take it or leave it.”

  Many years ago an eleven-year-old girl and her family traveled to Israel. Her parents had been going there for decades, but this was the girl’s first trip. The family planned to visit the historical and biblical sites that served as a basis for much of their Christian faith. They walked where Jesus walked and performed miracles at the Sea of Galilee, and worshiped at the Garden Tomb where their Savior rose from the dead after giving His life for us. One of the last stops on their trip was to Yad Vashem, which commemorates one of the darkest eras of human history—the Nazi genocide against the Jewish people. The eleven-year-old girl’s parents weren’t sure if she was ready for it, but they wanted her to understand the importance of standing up against evil, so they decided to bring her. The girl’s father would stay with her and if at any point it became too much he would take her out.

  Yad Vashem sits on Mount Herzl, often referred to as the Mount of Remembrance. Yad Vashem in Hebrew means “a memorial and a name,” and its goal is to memorialize the Holocaust and in particular all the Jewish people who were killed and had no descendants left on earth to carry on their names.

  As they walked through Yad Vashem the girl watched videos of Jewish families being marched to their deaths in gas chambers. She saw an exhibit featuring hundreds of pairs of shoes taken off the feet of Jewish children her age or younger and piled high to be burned. She listened as the names of the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis were read off one by one, and was told it takes three months to get through the full list.

  The eleven-year-old girl didn’t speak as she walked through Yad Vashem. At one point she reached up for her father’s hand, gripping it tightly, but she didn’t say a word. Her father, never leaving her side, watched his daughter and waited, hoping she understood why her parents wanted her to see this. The father worried they’d made a mistake, that it was all just too much for her at such a young age.

  They got to the end and there was a guest book for visitors to sign. The girl reached up and took the pen out of her father’s shirt pocket that she knew was always there.

  Looking over her shoulder, the father watched as his daughter inscribed her name and address in the book, and then paused at the section for comments. She still hadn’t said a word since entering Yad Vashem, but in the book the little girl carefully wrote:

  “Why didn’t somebody do something?”

  Tears welled in the father’s eyes, and in that moment he knew that she got it.

  “Why didn’t somebody do something?”

  The little girl understood. All it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing.

  The reason I know that story is that I was that little girl.

  My prayer for America is that like the brave generations before us, we take a stand against evil. Now is our chance to choose the right side. Let us be the somebodies who do something.

  Acknowledgments

  There have been so many people who have influenced my life and been a part of my story. In this book I tried to put into
words thirty-seven years of events and people who made me who I am. Writing this book was therapeutic. At times it felt impossible and overwhelming, but I am proud of the end result. Life isn’t much fun if you don’t have good people to share it with, and I am eternally grateful for all of the people who have helped me become the daughter, wife, mom, friend, coworker, and Christian I am.

  Bryan—you edited and poured your heart and soul into this book. If it’s any good at all, it’s because of you. You love me even when I make it hard, are the leader of our family, and always make us laugh. You are my best friend and the best decision I’ve ever made.

  Scarlett—you are beautiful inside and out. You are strong, independent, and a great big sister to your brothers. You’re a natural leader and nothing will hold you back from fulfilling your God-given potential. I will always love you, even when you become a teenager and I threaten to send you to live with your grandparents!

  Huck—you have more enthusiasm and curiosity than anyone I have ever met and I hope you never lose it. You find the good in everything and have a heart so big I know you will change the world for the better. Stay off Twitter, learn to communicate at a normal volume, and keep exploring!

  George—you have the sweetest spirit and a brilliant mind like your daddy. You love with everything you have and are destined for great things. You are as messy as our dog Traveler, but because you are so cute and hysterically funny, I’ll let it slide. Even when you flood our house (not cool, man!), you bring a smile to my face.

  Mom and Dad—you loved me enough to let me be myself and made sure I knew that God loved me unconditionally. Mom, you are one of the toughest people I know and have fought life’s hardest battles and won. Dad, you showed us what it means to be a compassionate but strong leader and to never back down from your principles. I pray I can live up to the example each of you set for us.

  Bill and Julia—the only thing better than having amazing parents is getting amazing in-laws, too. I couldn’t ask for more loving, accepting, encouraging, and generous in-laws. You love me and care for me like one of your own and have always made me feel welcome and a part of the family.