Sarah Sanders Hunting Pic reveals a disturbing family history

On Thursday, the Republican National Committee tweeted a photo of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R). The image, captioned “Almost Friday,” shows a smiling Sanders waist-deep in a wooded swamp next to a dog balancing a gun on one of her shoulders.
“Get a governor who can do both,” the GOP wrote.
It likely envisioned the post as a casual way to celebrate the upcoming weekend, glorifying gun culture and enjoying the reverence Sanders received for her recent anti-wake rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union.
Instead, the tweet spawned a disturbing story about the Huckabee family.
Sanders’ father, Mike Huckabee, ran for president in 2008. During the campaign, a story surfaced about Sander’s brother viciously killing a dog while he was a counselor at a Boy Scout camp in the late 1990s.
The circumstances of the dog’s death have never been fully clarified – the family claim that the then 17-year-old boy put the animal out of its misery. But according to Snopes, there is no question that Sander’s brother killed the dog, which resulted in him and another aide being fired.
People who remember the story felt that posting a photo of a member of the Huckabee family holding a gun next to a dog was ill-advised at best.
“A Huckabee with a gun and a dog in the same photo is concerning. I’m just saying, ” @ChidiNwatu tweeted.
“Knowing your family — I don’t know if putting a gun and a dog in the same photo is a good idea.” commented Tim Fullerton, who previously worked for former President Barack Obama.
Some critics noted that most people actually work Thursdays and Fridays, and also suggested that Sanders’ appearance suggested it was a photo op rather than an actual hunting trip.
“She doesn’t even have any shells in the pouches that were specially made for her. I know the GOP’s whole trick is to make their contestants look likeable, but good god that’s embarrassing,” @spawnofKhan tweeted.
Others wondered what it could be like to be standing in the woods doing more than one thing.
“What’s the second,” @BrennanCaldwell asked.
It seems pretty clear that the GOP meant Sanders, who was sworn in a month ago, can rule and hunt.
People still found it amusing that the picture showed them doing something.
Some had ideas as to what the two things might be. @MrMcTalksalot recommended They could hunt and hate poor people.
“Lying AND cheating?” @PBothMedia offered.
“Both being part of the swamp and complaining about it?” destroyed another.

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*Initial publication: February 9, 2023 at 3:04 pm CST
Claire Goforth
Claire Goforth is a staff writer at the Daily Dot and covers all topics related to politics and technology with a focus on far right and conspiracy theories.
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/sarah-sanders-hunting-picture-dog-gop/ Sarah Sanders Hunting Pic reveals a disturbing family history