Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders joined Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as the first guest on his new podcast, “The Sonnyside of the Farm.”
Sanders and Perdue sat down at Doe’s Eat Place in Little Rock, Arkansas, a restaurant that Perdue said is “sort of a famous venue for Arkansas politicians and political events.”
Sanders’ appearance may fuel further speculation about a gubernatorial run, which President Donald Trump floated in a tweet when she stepped down in June. About two months later, Sanders unveiled a campaign-style website, which calls her a “trusted confidante of the President.”
“I think the easiest and and simplest way to describe the President is he’s just so fun to be around and somebody who really loves the country, and you see that in everything he does,” she said in the podcast interview, which was released on Friday.
The podcast is posted on the US Department of Agriculture’s website and was promoted by the agency’s Twitter account but is described as Perdue’s “very own.”
Trump won Arkansas, a solidly red state, by 27 points in the 2016 election.
Sanders and Perdue also talked about Trump’s initiatives for farmers, who have been hit hard by the trade war with China. Beijing has imposed tariffs on a number of kinds of American-grown produce, leaving a record number of soybeans sitting in storage at the end of last year’s harvest.
Farmers have largely stood behind the President in his endeavor to strike a new trade deal with China, but lately some groups have expressed frustration with the administration’s other agriculture-related policies. Last week, some cattle ranchers rallied in Nebraska, calling on Trump and Perdue to reverse a 2015 policy that allows some foreign beef to be labeled “Product of the USA.”
In a bid to temper concerns from corn and soybean farmers over a federal biofuel rule, the administration on Friday announced some details of a new policy aimed at promoting ethanol production. Trump has also released $28 billion in aid to farmers hurt by the tariffs.
During the podcast, Perdue said Trump has a “genuine, sincere affection for our farmers and ranchers,” despite his upbringing in New York City and career in real estate.
“I think he has that kind of love and affection for them because he sees them as people who are building our country,” Sanders replied.
After leaving the White House, Sanders joined Fox News as a contributor. Her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, is also a Fox News personality.