Sarah Huckabee Sanders says GOP midterm losses must be a wake-up call

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Republican Party’s midterm setback “has to be a wake-up call,” urging the GOP to concentrate on the problems families feel at home and around the kitchen table. Sanders made the remarks while discussing Sarah Huckabee Sanders midterm losses on CBS News’ “The Takeout.”

“There’s no question that Tuesday was a tough night for Republicans,” Sanders said in the interview, published by CBS News on Nov. 10. She said Republicans lost races that she believed would ordinarily not have been competitive.

What did Sarah Huckabee Sanders say Republicans should do after the midterms?

Sanders said the party should put its focus on issues that directly affect families. Asked about Senate losses and close races cited by the interviewer, she said Republicans needed to concentrate on “the issues that really impact a family at their home, at their kitchen table.”

She said she hoped Republicans would spend the next two years emphasizing those concerns and that the political direction would shift back toward the party in 2028. That was Sanders’ prediction about future elections, rather than a reported outcome.

Sanders also contrasted the national picture with Arkansas. She said the state was a “bright spot” during what she described as a Democratic wave, adding that she had won her race and that Republicans held key offices in the state.

Arkansas Advocate reported that Sanders defeated Democratic state Sen. Fred Love and Libertarian Colt Shelby in the governor’s race, with the Associated Press calling the contest on election night.

What did Sanders predict for the next two years?

Sanders predicted that voters would develop what she called “buyer’s remorse” if Democratic policies were enacted. She also said she expected Democrats in Washington to focus on attacking President Donald Trump, impeachment and political retaliation.

Those were Sanders’ political assessments and forecasts. During the same exchange, she criticized Democrats’ positions on affordability, regulation, taxes and farm policy, claims that were not independently established in the interview materials.

The CBS conversation focused on the aftermath of the prior week’s midterm elections, with Sanders framing the result as a warning for her party while arguing that Arkansas offered a different result.

This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.