The luxurious lectern has been stowed away for now.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) appeared to ditch a controversial $19,000 podium on Monday, opting instead for a humble wooden lectern bearing the state seal.
She was holding a press conference along with Attorney General Tim Griffin to announce a conference being held to compel the Chinese government to cede control of 160 acres of farmland belonging to Syngenta, according to KTHV.
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As Sanders was wrapping up the public Q and A, she was pressed about the podium's MIA status.
A reporter asked her why she wasn't using it today and she replied matter-of-factly: “Yeah, because I figure if you do, you would talk about nothing else than the important actions that we’re actually taking today."
She added: “Which, unfortunately, is not surprising, that while we are focused on things that actually impact our state and impact Arkansans the media wants to spend all of their time on things that frankly don’t."
"Any other questions?”
Nobody asked another question.
The governor has come under scrutiny in what has been dubbed "Podiumgate" accusations that she altered records pertaining to an invoice for the purchase of the pricy piece of furniture that she purchased using state government plastic.
The former White House Press Secretary had discussed the rationale for securing the podium -- which she claimed went through the "standard protocol" for the office and was handled by the office manager and her team.
She then started rattling off some of its features such as offering a more accommodating height to women.
"In terms of specific features, the height of the podium is specific," said the governor. "I don't know if you noticed but women are traditionally shorter than our male counterparts."
"And so that makes a little bit of a difference."
The lectern also supplies a line of tech for the press to connect cables to its ports.
"But it also incorporates sound components that make it easier to plug in for multiple media outlets at one time to get the best sound quality, I guess possible, to relay back to TV and the purposes of that nature."
"And a number of other things that I'll let come through in the audit process."
