Carla Sands

Carla Sands
United States Ambassador to Denmark
In office
December 15, 2017 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byRufus Gifford
Succeeded byAlan M. Leventhal
Personal details
Born
Carla Herd

(1960-10-13) October 13, 1960 (age 63)
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1999; died 2015)​
Children1
EducationIndiana University of Pennsylvania
Elizabethtown College
Life University (DC)

Carla J. Sands (née Herd; born October 13, 1960)[1] is an American businesswoman who is chair and CEO of Vintage Capital Group. During the Trump administration (2017–21) she was U.S. ambassador to Denmark.[2][3]

A former chiropractor, socialite, and actress,[4] Sands married business executive Fred Sands in 1999. Following his death in 2015, she succeeded him as chair and CEO of Vintage Capital Group. During Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, she was an economic advisor to Trump[5] and a major donor to his campaign and inaugural committee.[1][6][7]

Sands was a candidate in the Republican primary in the 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania.

Early life and education[edit]

Sands was born Carla J. Herd, daughter of Jack (a chiropractor)[8] and Barbara Herd, on October 13, 1960. She grew up in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Sands attended Cumberland Valley High School, where she was active in student council, the ski club, and various other student-led organizations.[9] She studied art and science at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and chemistry at Elizabethtown College, but it is unclear whether she earned a degree from either institution.[10] She later attended Life Chiropractic College, now Life University, and earned a Doctor of Chiropractic degree.[11][6][12]

Career[edit]

Sands had a brief career in acting in the 1980s,[2] appearing in several episodes of the television series The Bold and the Beautiful in 1987[13][14] and in two movies, the 1988 sword and sorcery fantasy film Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell and the 1989 South African action film Wild Zone.[15]

Sands worked as a chiropractor in private practice from 1990 to 1999. On April 10, 1999, Sands married real estate mogul Fred Sands. Following his death in 2015, she succeeded him as the chair and CEO of Vintage Capital Group, which has around $150 million in assets, and of Vintage Real Estate.[12][16]

Politics[edit]

She is a Republican fundraiser and donor; she supported the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.[6][17][18][19] In 2016, Sands donated nearly a quarter-million dollars and organized high-dollar fundraisers for Trump's campaign, and subsequently gave $100,000 to Trump's inaugural committee.[1][6][7][20] Sands was previously an economic advisor to Trump; she was one of eight women that Trump added to his economic advisory council after he faced criticism for initially naming an all-male slate.[5][20][7]

Sands was a California delegate for the 33rd congressional district to the 2016 Republican National Convention.[6][21]

After the 2020 presidential election, Sands wrote twice on Twitter that she was "disenfranchised" because her absentee ballot in Pennsylvania was "not counted". The New York Times reported that when they ran a search on Pennsylvania's election website with Sands's information, it showed that her ballot had been received and counted in Cumberland County.[22]

U.S. Ambassador to Denmark[edit]

Sands with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in 2019

Trump nominated Sands to the post of U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. According to two unnamed sources her name was allegedly recommended to Trump by the Republican fundraiser and convicted felon Elliott Broidy.[23] She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 2, 2017, on a voice vote.[24][25] She formally assumed the office on December 15, 2017.

While serving as Ambassador, Sands published an opinion piece in Denmark accusing the country of spending too little on its military.[26]

In December 2019, she caused controversy by vetoing the presence of Stanley Sloan, a scholar of the NATO alliance, at a Danish Atlantic Council conference that was meant to celebrate the 70th anniversary of NATO and discuss its future. Sloan had been invited by the head of the council, Lars Struwe, to give the keynote address at the conference.[27] Days before the conference, Sands objected to Sloan speaking because he had criticized Trump. The Danish Atlantic Council subsequently canceled the conference.[27][28]

Struwe wrote to Sloan that "we believe that freedom of speech is paramount in every democracy" and that the think tank saw no conflict between Sloan's criticism of Trump and his participation as a speaker at a conference.[29] The U.S. Embassy posted a Twitter message saying that the "proposed last-minute inclusion" of Sloan into the conference did not comply with the "agreement that we followed when recruiting all other speakers."[30] The Embassy offered no proof of that allegation, however, and Struwe said that the process alluded to by the U.S. Embassy for recruiting speakers did not exist. According to Struwe, the U.S. Embassy did not play a role in choosing any of the conference's other speakers or in confirming whether they would attend the conference.[27]

In June 2020, Sands participated in re-opening the United States consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.[31]

The independent, non-partisan Office of Special Counsel ruled in February 2021 that Sands violated the Hatch Act of 1939 multiple times while serving as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark by using her official Twitter account to tweet about political matters, including criticisms of Joe Biden and endorsing conspiracy theories about Kamala Harris.[32]

During Trump's last month in office, Sands received the Medal for Distinguished Public Service from the Department of Defense for her tenure as Ambassador.[33]

In June 2022, Sands was widely ridiculed for tweeting, in reference to high fuel prices, that "In Denmark, middle class people can’t afford to drive a car. They have a bike and take the train for long trips. My embassy driver would bike an hour in the snow to get to work. That’s the future team Biden wants for Americans”, she wrote and continued: “Is this what you want?"[34][35]

2022 U.S. Senate campaign[edit]

Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

In July 2021, Sands announced she was entering the Republican primary for the Senate seat of Pat Toomey.[36] As of January 2022, Sands had put $3 million of her own money into her U.S. Senate campaign and had spent $1 million on television advertisements.[37] Sands came fourth in the primary, behind Mehmet Oz, David McCormick, and Kathy Barnette.[38]

Additional affiliations[edit]

Sands served on the boards of Pepperdine University, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.[6] She was also named by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be on the board of the California Cultural and Historical Endowment.[5][6] Sands served as the President and Chairman of Blue Ribbon, an organization that supports the Los Angeles Music Center and also as a Director of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County.[6][39][40]

Personal life[edit]

Sands has one child, a daughter named Alexandra.[41]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1988 Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell Carissa / Elizena
1989 Wild Zone Nicole Laroche

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1987 Houston Knights — Episode: "Gun Shy"
1987 The Bold and the Beautiful Alex Simpson 15 episodes
1987 1st & Ten Tina Sawyer 2 episodes
1991 Monsters Dolores / Creature Episode: "The Maker"

Electoral history[edit]

Republican Primary Results [42]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mehmet Oz 420,168 31.21
Republican David McCormick 419,218 31.14
Republican Kathy Barnette 331,903 24.66
Republican Carla Sands 73,360 5.45
Republican Jeff Bartos 66,684 4.95
Republican Sean Gale 20,266 1.51
Republican George Bochetto 14,492 1.08
Total votes 1,346,091 100.0

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "U.S. Ambassador to Denmark: Who Is Carla Sands?". October 16, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Trump picks new US ambassador to Denmark". The Local. September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  3. ^ "PN1012 - Nomination of Carla Sands for Department of State, 115th Congress (2017-2018)". www.congress.gov. November 2, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  4. ^ Claire Parker, Military support, canned pork and an air base: Here’s why Denmark has been an important U.S. ally, Washington Post (August 21, 2019): "The Trump administration’s ambassador to Denmark, socialite and former actress Carla Sands, is not nearly as popular in Copenhagen as beloved former Ambassador Rufus Gifford"
  5. ^ a b c "U.S. Republican presidential candidate Trump's economic team". Reuters. August 11, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ambassador Carla Sands". U.S. Embassy in Denmark. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Gibson, Kate (August 11, 2016). "Meet the 8 women Trump just added to his all-male economic council". CBS News. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  8. ^ Herd Clinic, "Meet Our Doctors"; accessed 2019.09.03.
  9. ^ "Cumberland Valley grad serving US overseas as Denmark ambassador". December 14, 2018.
  10. ^ "U.S. Ambassador to Denmark: Who Is Carla Sands?" allgov.com; accessed 2019.09.03.
  11. ^ Rose-Smith, Imogen (September 6, 2016). "The Rise of Carla Sands". Institutional Investor. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Rose-Smith, Imogen (September 6, 2016). "From Socialite to Donald Trump Adviser: The Rise of Carla Sands". Institutional Investor. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  13. ^ "Carla Sands Actress". IMDb. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  14. ^ "More Heat for Feinstein". Politico. September 8, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  15. ^ "Biography". IMDb. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  16. ^ "Vintage Capital Group, LLC". California Secretary of State. December 9, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  17. ^ Martin, Jonathan (January 13, 2016). "Ted Cruz Starts to Crack G.O.P. Establishment's Wall of Opposition". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  18. ^ Marinucci, Carla (August 12, 2016). "Olympic Medalists tax bill". Politico. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  19. ^ Balcerzak, Ashley (April 19, 2017). "250 donors shelled out $100k or more for Trump's inauguration, providing 91% of funds". OpenSecrets.
  20. ^ a b "After Criticism, Trump Adds Women To His Economic Advisory Team". NPR. August 11, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  21. ^ "Delegates" (PDF). Cloudfront. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  22. ^ Lara Jakes (November 11, 2020). "A U.S. ambassador claimed her absentee ballot was not counted. We found it was". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  23. ^ Faturechi, Robert. "Sessions Turned to Convicted Fundraiser for Advice on U.S. Attorneys". ProPublica. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  24. ^ "New U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Confirmed by Senate". Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  25. ^ "PN1012 — Carla Sands — Department of State". congress.gov. November 2, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  26. ^ Sands, Carla (October 22, 2019). "USA's ambassadør: Hvorfor skal USA investere mere i Danmarks sikkerhed, end I selv gør?" [US Ambassador: Why should the US invest more in Denmark's security than you do?]. www.information.dk (in Danish).
  27. ^ a b c Teo Armus (December 9, 2019). "A NATO expert criticized Trump on Twitter. So a U.S. ambassador barred him from speaking at a conference". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  28. ^ "The Danish Atlantic Council cancels NATO conference". December 8, 2019.
  29. ^ "A Danish Think Tank Says The US Ambassador Banned A Trump Critic From An Event". BuzzFeed News. December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  30. ^ "NATO seminar canceled as US objects to anti-Trump speaker". ABC News. December 8, 2019.
  31. ^ Sarah Cammarata (June 10, 2020). "U.S. reopens consulate in Greenland amid White House's Arctic push". Politico. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  32. ^ "A MAGA ambassador violated the Hatch Act. Biden must decide what to do about it". POLITICO. February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  33. ^ John Cole (June 18, 2021). "2022 GOP Hopefuls Shred Wolf and Election Laws at PLC". PoliticsPA. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  34. ^ "'Danish royals can't afford a car': Former US envoy to Denmark ridiculed over cycling tweet". June 10, 2022.
  35. ^ "The Copenhagen Post". June 11, 2022.
  36. ^ "Ex-Ambassador, Investment CEO Carla Sands Seeks GOP Pa. Senate Nomination". NBC10 Philadelphia. July 6, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  37. ^ Tamari, Jonathan (October 7, 2021). "Republican Carla Sands is putting $3 million into her Pa. Senate bid". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  38. ^ "Pennsylvania Senate Republican Primary Election Results and Maps 2022 | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  39. ^ "18/19 Blue Ribbon Board of Directors". The Music Center. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  40. ^ "Fiscal year 2014" (PDF). The Music Center. June 30, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  41. ^ "Fred Sands, once the king of high-end L.A. real estate, dies at 77". Los Angeles Times. October 27, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  42. ^ "August 2, 2022 Primary Results - CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 4". Secretary of State of Washington. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.

External links[edit]

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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Denmark
2017–2021 		Succeeded by
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