Sheri Biggs announces headliner for inaugural "Salute to Liberty" event
U.S. Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-3rd District) invited Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to headline the inaugural "Salute to Liberty" event on Aug. 18. The gathering will celebrate patriotism, freedom, service, and other American values, according to a press release.
Biggs stated that Sanders has enacted transformational, conservative reform as governor of Arkansas and led historic victories in her work at the White House.
"I am deeply honored that my friend of many years and a true patriot for our nation, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will headline our inaugural Salute to Liberty," Biggs stated.
Biggs will host "Salute to Liberty" at the Anderson Sports & Entertainment Center from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. General admissions tickets start at around $30.
Setting the stage for the 2028 race
Biggs is a relatively new member of Congress. She won the third congressional district's seat in 2024 and took office in 2025.
Her predecessor, Jeff Duncan, took the seat in 2012 and held it until 2024, when he decided not to seek reelection. Duncan first started the tradition of bringing thousands of South Carolina Republicans to the Anderson Sports & Entertainment Center during the summer for his annual Faith & Freedom BBQ.
More: Jeff Duncan's BBQ: SC evangelical voters split between DeSantis, Scott in Trump Country.
In the past, Duncan's event featured remarks from top national Republicans with presidential aspirations, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida). Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was set to be the event's keynote speaker in 2023, the last year of the event, before cancelling to return to his home state during Hurricane Idalia.
Sanders, the headliner for Biggs' event, is another possible Republican name in the 2028 presidential race.
Nonpartisan polling site 270toWin compiled an aggregate of 10 polls of possible 2028 Republican presidential candidates. Sanders ranked the seventh most popular candidate of 23 names, placing between Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Sanders is known for championing conservative policies and backing President Donald Trump.
As governor, she signed a bill that opened the doors for medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors who perform gender affirming care and a ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in local government.
South Carolina — the launching pad for presidential campaigns
The Palmetto State is the first Southern state to hold primary contests in an election cycle, making it an important win for presidential candidates' campaign momentum.
Trump gained a significant lead over competitor former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the state's 2024 Republican primary, earning about 60% of the vote next to Haley's 40%. Haley dropped out of the race less than two weeks later.
He also campaigned numerous times in the state leading up to the 2016 Republican primary. He ended up winning the state with about 32% of the vote compared to Rubio's and Ted Cruz's roughly 22% each, according to the South Carolina Election Commission.
More: 'I will not stop using my voice.' Haley suspends presidential bid, doesn't endorse Trump
Several Democratic politicians have visited the Palmetto State this summer, including Govs. Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, and Tim Walz.
Sanders has not formally said whether she is considering a run for president, even though her name has come up in 2028 possible candidate polls. Biggs is expected to announce more guests in the coming weeks.
Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Arkansas governor to speak at Sheri Biggs' "Salute to Liberty" event
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republican Senate candidates seeking to replace McConnell aim to define themselves at Fancy Farm
Republican Senate candidates seeking to replace McConnell aim to define themselves at Fancy Farm FANCY FARM, Ky. (AP) — A renowned Kentucky picnic turned into a rapid-fire Republican political skirmish on Saturday, as three candidates competing to succeed longtime U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell tried to pick apart one another while seeking early momentum in their 2026 primary campaign. Taking the stage amid milder-than-usual temperatures at the Fancy Farm picnic in western Kentucky, the GOP rivals — U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron and entrepreneur Nate Morris — turned up the heat in vying for the coveted Senate seat. Each tried to define himself and their opponents while speaking before a raucous crowd and a statewide TV audience. Barr and Cameron ripped into Morris' business record as founder of a waste software company and questioned Morris' credibility as a supporter of President Donald Trump's MAGA movement. 'Nate will do anything and say anything to run away from his past,' Cameron said. 'You can't claim to be MAGA when you build a company on ESG subsidies and DEI initiatives." Barr quipped: 'Nate calls himself the trash man, but dumpster fire is more like it.' Morris — who is campaigning as a populist and political outsider — kept up his strategy of harshly criticizing McConnell's legacy and trying to link Barr and Cameron to the venerable senator. 'If you want to know how Andy Barr or Daniel Cameron are going to act in the U.S. Senate – look no further than their 'mentor' Mitch McConnell,' Morris said. 'Both of these guys are very proud to tell you they wouldn't have careers if it weren't for Mitch,' Morris added. "Neither of these guys have built anything, done anything impactful, employed anyone.' McConnell, a Fancy Farm participant for decades, didn't delve into the Senate race during his picnic speech Saturday. But he gave a spirited summary of his Senate career in a speech to a GOP breakfast gathering Saturday. He pointed to his record of steering enormous sums of federal funds to his home state to build or fix infrastructure, support agriculture and military installations and more. McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, revealed in February, on his 83rd birthday, that he won't seek another term in Kentucky and will retire when his current term ends. With Democrats mostly skipping the picnic's political speeches, the crowd was divided among supporters of GOP candidates, cheering their favorite and jeering rival candidates. Speaking at Fancy Farm — where picnic organizers like to say the mouthwatering barbecue is hot and the political rhetoric even spicier — is considered a rite of passage for candidates seeking statewide office in the GOP-leaning Bluegrass State. Kentucky's 2026 primary election is next spring. Beside hurling insults at their rivals, the Senate candidates tried to define themselves at the picnic. Barr portrayed his congressional experience as an advantage setting him apart. He represents a district stretching from central Kentucky's bluegrass region to the Appalachian foothills. Barr said he helped shape and pass Trump's massive tax cut and spending reduction legislation. 'Some politicians like to say 'I'm a Trump guy,' " Barr said. 'They talk about supporting the president. But I'm the only candidate in this race who's actually doing it -- day in and day out in Congress.' Cameron, who is Black, used his speech to rail against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Cameron said he and his wife want their sons to 'grow up in a colorblind society, one based on merit and opportunity, not division and handouts. We don't need America built on diversity, equity and inclusion. We need America built on merit, excellence and intelligence.' Morris touted his hard-line stance on immigration. He supports a moratorium on immigration into the United States until every immigrant currently in the country illegally is deported. The three GOP rivals kept to one script they have all shared — lavishing praise on Trump. One of the biggest questions in the campaign is whether Trump will make an endorsement, seen as potentially decisive in determining who wins the primary. Democratic Senate candidate Pamela Stevenson was invited but opted to skip the picnic. Kentucky hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since Wendell Ford in 1992. The lone Democratic candidate who spoke at the picnic on Saturday was congressional candidate John 'Drew' Williams. Bruce Schreiner, The Associated Press
Wall Street Journal
8 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Watchdog Agency Opens Probe Into Jack Smith, Who Investigated Trump
WASHINGTON—An executive-branch ethics watchdog has opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel who investigated Donald Trump before he returned to the White House. The Office of Special Counsel confirmed Saturday that it had opened the probe into Smith for possible violations of the Hatch Act, a federal law that bans partisan political activity by certain government employees. The agency has no criminal enforcement power, but can impose fines and other sanctions.
Associated Press
8 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Smithsonian denies White House pressure to remove Trump impeachment references
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House did not pressure the Smithsonian to remove references to President Donald Trump's two impeachments from an exhibit and will include him in an updated presentation 'in the coming weeks,' the museum said Saturday. The revelation that Trump was no longer listed among impeached presidents sparked concern that history was being whitewashed to appease the president. 'We were not asked by any Administration or other government official to remove content from the exhibit,' the Smithsonian statement said. A museum spokesperson, Phillip Zimmerman, had previously pledged that 'a future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments,' but it was not clear when the new exhibit would be installed. The museum on Saturday did not say when in the coming weeks the new exhibit will be ready. A label referring to Trump's impeachments had been added in 2021 to the National Museum for American History's exhibit on the American presidency, in a section called 'Limits of Presidential Power.' The section includes materials on the impeachment of Presidents Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson and the Watergate scandal that helped lead to President Richard Nixon's resignation. 'The placard, which was meant to be a temporary addition to a twenty-five year-old exhibition, did not meet the museum's standards in appearance, location, timeline, and overall presentation,' the statement said. 'It was not consistent with other sections in the exhibit and moreover blocked the view of the objects inside its case. For these reasons, we removed the placard.' Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice — in 2019, for pushing Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, who would later defeat Trump in the 2020 presidential election; and in 2021 for 'incitement of insurrection,' a reference to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters attempting to halt congressional certification of Biden's victory. The Democratic majority in the House voted each time for impeachment. The Republican-led Senate each time acquitted Trump.
