Clarifying claim Sarah Huckabee Sanders left children standing in rain while speaking under tent

In September 2025, a claim (archived) circulated online that an image authentically showed Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders giving a speech under a tent while children were forced to stand in the rain.

The image in question showed Sanders standing at a covered podium while several girls in cheerleading uniforms stood outside on the wet ground. 

One X posting of the image with nearly 8 million views at the time of this writing carried the caption, "Huckabee Sanders giving a talk under a tent while kids are forced to stand in the rain."

(X user @TimHannan)

Some popular postings mocked the photo as a metaphor for conservative politicians "leaving your kids out in the rain."

The image and claim also circulated on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived). 

The image was authentic, meaning not created or edited using artificial intelligence, and showed Sanders speaking at the National Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Aug. 26, 2025. 

However, we found no evidence that Sanders or the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, which hosted the event, "forced" the cheerleaders to stand in the rain. Sanders acknowledged the cheerleaders in the rain at the beginning of her speech, saying she would be "fast" so "we can get them out of the rain and dried off." Given the above, we rate the claim a mixture of true and undetermined elements.

Dushun Scarbrough, the executive director of the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission that organized the event, said in an emailed statement that as part of the Aug. 26 event, "a group of cheerleaders performed a cheer routine outside. At the time, the rain was light and intermittent, and student chaperones and event organizers made the decision to allow the cheerleaders to perform their routine outside."

We reached out to Sanders' office to ask for comment on why the cheerleaders stood in the rain while Sanders was under cover during the Aug. 26 event and await a reply.

Arkansas PBS' footage showed the same cheerleader in the far left of the frame that appeared on the right in the image circulating online, indicating that the image showed the same event as the footage.

It was unclear at the time of this writing how long the cheerleaders stood in the rain. Arkansas PBS' nine-minute video showed the cheerleaders throughout. Scarbrough, posted another photo from Aug. 26 on Facebook showing the cheerleaders standing behind another speaker on wet ground.

The three-day National Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission Conference aimed to honor and preserve the life and legacy of Dr. King. According to one local report citing Scarbrough, a central theme of the conference was youth empowerment, with students from the state participating as "Dream Keepers" and "Youth Ambassadors."