Arkansas Business paper tears apart Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ 'performance art'

In deep red Arkansas, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been accusing businesses of being controlled by the People's Republic of China. But Sanders, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is making such accusations without proving them first. And in a scathing late June editorial, Arkansas Business' editorial board takes her to task for favoring "performance art" over meaningful governance.

"Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders maligned businesses in Arkansas as being linked to Communist China even after her administration was warned that the claims were unproven, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported earlier this month," the Arkansas Business board writes. "She did it, texts uncovered in a court case reveal, because she would 'rather have a media hit and have to walk it back later.' In one case, Sanders took to X on July 24, 2024 to cast doubt on 4811 S. Zero Street LLC, a Walmart supplier, which operates a factory near Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith."

The editorial board continues, "'China is America's greatest threat. I won't let them buy up land close to our military installations and spy on our nation's defense assets.' It turned out that Zero Street is owned by a naturalized U.S. citizen and native of Taiwan, a staunch ally of the U.S."

The Arkansas Business writers point out that Sanders also accused the Jonesboro-based Risever Machinery of having "significant ties to China." But even though Risever is "owned by a Chinese family," according to the board, the company "was found to be in compliance with Arkansas law."

"The entire episode frustrated a number of top business officials in the state who are usually reliable Sanders allies," according to the Arkansas Business editorial writers. "The governor has pledged repeatedly to make Arkansas the best state in the U.S. to do business; that can't be true when she attacks companies owned by people with names that she or her staff determine are not adequately western. The governor of Arkansas should protect its citizens from potential threats posed by hostile foreign interests. She should not smear companies before knowing all the facts."

The board adds, "That is not good governance. That is performance art."

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Dale Ellis, on June 16, reported, "Asked by a deputy under State Attorney General Tim Griffin to delay public pronouncements in one case until allegations of a Chinese connection could be investigated, the administration refused, a text said. A top Sanders staffer said the administration 'would rather have a media hit and have to walk it back later,' a deputy attorney general wrote in a text to Griffin and others."