Gov. Chris Sununu has called former President Donald Trump “f***ing crazy,” said Trump is a “three-time loser” who would hurt the entire GOP if he is the Republican nominee, and pledged to do everything he can to defeat Trump in New Hampshire.
“Did you see [Trump’s] last visit to New Hampshire? He was comparing himself to Nelson Mandela and talking about Jesus Christ being speaker of the House — it was kooky talk,” Sununu said earlier this month. “He sounds almost as bad as Joe Biden.”
But if the general election comes down to the former president versus the current one, Sununu knows who has got his vote.
Donald Trump.
In a podcast interview released Tuesday, Puck’s Tara Palmeri asked Sununu about next November’s vote. “If it comes down to Trump or Biden, which it most likely will, you’re going to vote for Trump then?”
“I’m a Republican,” Sununu replied.
It’s the same answer Sununu gave in 2020 when he won reelection by more than 30 points the same day then-President Trump lost to Joe Biden by eight. Sununu has been open about his low opinion of Trump, but he has been just as open about his loyalty to the GOP.
“I just want Republicans to win; that’s all I care about.”
Ironically, New Hampshire Democrats spent millions of dollars on campaign ads attempting to paint Sununu as “a Trump guy through and through,” only to have their candidates lose — badly — to the Republican governor.
In the Palmeri interview, Sununu repeated his view that New Hampshire is in play for an alternative to Trump and that the primary race isn’t over. “It’s more likely than not that Trump is the nominee,” Sununu conceded. “But it’s not an absolute.”
Sununu said consolidation is the key to Republicans avoiding another Trump nomination, and he insisted the party has until Super Tuesday to get to a one-on-one Trump race.
“If you get to Super Tuesday and Trump runs the table, it’s over,” Sununu said. “But if you get to Super Tuesday and Haley or an alternative candidate is winning three or four states, then the whole paradigm changes. Now it becomes a one-on-one race.”
Sununu said he believes Trump’s support among engaged voters who are following the race in early states is lower than the 61 percent GOP support in the latest national polls. The real number is closer to 40 percent. And while that may be enough to win early states in a divided field, it is an opportunity for a GOP challenger.
“Let’s say Ron DeSantis is the one, or Chris Christie is the one who [breaks] out by Super Tuesday. Trump can have his 40 percent. Someone else will have 60,” Sununu said. “Trump has a ceiling. He has a floor, but he also has a ceiling — one that is fairly low for a former president.”
“If it becomes a one-on-one race, now he’s in trouble,” Sununu added.
Asked why the three current and former governors — Christie, DeSantis, and Haley — haven’t closed the gap with Trump in the Granite State, Sununu blamed their lack of a serious ground game.
“None of them have done a great job with a ground game here, knocking on doors, phones. That really does still work,” Sununu said, adding that it is not too late. “I think you could see a significant movement in numbers for anyone who drops that ground game here in the next six weeks.”
Palmeri called out Sununu’s record of moving the goalposts on when he will make his endorsement. Sununu said he still hasn’t picked a candidate, but he expects to make his announcement “in the next couple of weeks.”
As for the general election, Sununu predicted Democrats would dump Biden before they let him lose the White House — and he could.
“Biden has become so bad, even Trump can beat him,” Sununu said.
