Sarah Huckabee Sanders to highlight age difference in response to Biden’s State of the Union

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) is set to highlight the 40-year age difference between her and President Biden as she delivers the Republican Party’s official rebuttal to his State of the Union address Tuesday night. 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) selected Sanders to deliver the GOP response, touting the 40-year-old as the nation’s youngest governor and representative of a new generation of Republican leaders. 

Sanders is set to emphasize in her speech that 80-year-old Biden is double her age, a spokesperson for the governor told The Hill on Tuesday ahead of the high-profile remarks.

As the nation’s oldest president and the first octogenarian to hold the Oval Office, the president’s age has been a major point of contention amid speculation that Biden will launch a reelection bid for another four years in the White House. If he runs and wins, Biden would be 86 by the end of his second term.

Sanders will also lean on her campaign trail urging to usher in a “new generation” of the GOP, a clarion call used by many to suggest moving past longtime leadership like Biden or former President Trump.

“The youngest governor in America, Sarah is fighting on behalf of parents, small businesses, and ordinary taxpayers. She is bringing new ideas for a changing future, while also applying the wisdom of the past. … Everyone, including President Biden, should listen carefully,” McCarthy said of Sanders.

The governor has said she plans to “contrast the GOP’s optimistic vision for the future against the failures of President Biden and the Democrats” in her remarks.

Sanders is set to give an on-air rebuttal from Little Rock, Ark., after Biden addresses a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

Trump is also expected to release a response to Biden’s speech, separate from the official GOP response.