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The White House held a roundtable on Thursday with aviation experts to discuss the impact of the government shutdown on U.S. airports. Chris Sununu, president and CEO of Airlines for America, joins “The Takeout” to break down the discussion.
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The headline did not mince words. “Donald Trump is a loser,” read the title of the opinion piece, which ran in the New Hampshire Union Leader one day before the 2024 New Hampshire presidential primary.
The man who wrote it, former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, is no stranger to opposing Trump.
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By Ethan DeWitt | New Hampshire Bulletin
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Massachusetts and New Hampshire officials are condemning political violence and calling for calm after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Trump was rushed off the stage Saturday after a bullet grazed his ear in what authorities described as an apparent assassination attempt. One spectator was killed and two others critically injured in the incident, authorities said.
Federal authorities named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect. He was shot and killed by authorities. A motive is not yet known.
But the attack stoked fears about increasing violence in the nation’s toxic political system ahead of an already divisive presidential election, with Trump locked in a neck-and-neck race for the White House against incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey condemned the attack, praised law enforcement for its “swift response,” and said she was “relieved” the former president is safe.
“Political violence has no place in this country, and all Americans must condemn it,” the Democrat said in a statement.
Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, issued a joint statement, saying they “grieve for the families affected by Saturday’s tragedy and condemn those who would seek to use violence to further their political goals.”
“While we may disagree on many things, we are deeply committed to this country’s ideals of settling those disagreements through public participation, debate, and respect for our colleagues regardless of their affiliation,” they said.
Members of Massachusetts’s all-Democratic congressional delegation also denounced the violence and appealed for calm.
“It doesn’t matter how much we might disagree in politics, violence is never acceptable,” Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, said in a statement. “This is a polarized time, but we’re stronger when we’re united, not divided.”
New Hampshire’s political leaders also voiced their outrage and appealed for calm in the November elections.
“Political violence of any kind is never acceptable,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said in a statement. “I’m appreciative of the quick efforts of law enforcement and hope the former President and anyone else injured today recovers fully.”
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu echoed those sentiments on social media, saying in a statement that “violence of any form has no place in America” and wishing Trump a “speedy recovery” from his injuries.
The assassination attempt on Trump was the first instance of a president or presidential candidate being targeted with violence since President Ronald Reagan survived a shooting in 1981.
Biden used a rare White House address Sunday to condemn violence and pleaded with Americans to cool the political rhetoric ahead of the November elections, citing the attempt on Trump and other recent incidents involving elected officials.
“A former president was shot. An American citizen was killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. We cannot, we must not go down this road in America,” the Democrat said. “We’ve traveled it before throughout history. Violence has never been the answer.”
Trump arrived Sunday in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, where he is expected to accept his party’s formal nomination in a speech later this week.
Delegates from the state’s Republican Party, who are expected to attend the four-day convention, issued a statement wishing Trump a speedy recovery, condemning the violence and calling on Americans “to unify as a nation to condemn this horrible incident.”
“Like every American, we are outraged, horrified and deeply concerned,” MassGOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale and other party officials said. “Whether Democrat or Republican, despite our differences, we all desire peace and prosperity for our nation.”
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.
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By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter
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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) isn’t ruling out the possibility that both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won’t appear on the ballot in 2024. (You can check out his comments in the clip below)
“It’s not going to be that way. Look, I think there’s a good shot that neither of them are actually on that ballot,” Sununu said on Sunday’s edition of “Meet the Press.”
“I think Trump can very much lose if they winnow it down to one-on-one. I think there’s a lot of issues that are going to come to bear with President Biden over the next year and a lot of opportunity for the Democrats to find another, another candidate.”
Sununu’s comments follow a recent poll that suggests 75% and 69% of U.S. adults wouldn’t like to see either Biden or Trump, respectively, run for president.
“Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, earlier in the interview, asked the governor whether he supports the No Labels political organization putting up their own candidate on the ballot next year.
“Well, look, according to the polls you just showed about 70% of America is supportive of that idea to not see Trump and Biden on that ticket,” Sununu said.
“I heard someone put it once, ’70% of America, if it’s a Trump-Biden ticket, will be politically homeless.′ And I think that’s a very good way to put it. They won’t have any inspiration. They won’t feel very confident about going forward…”
The governor, a Trump critic who turned down a possible GOP presidential campaign, later declared that No Labels has an opportunity in the election “like never before.”
“It would have to be the right candidate. It would have to be somebody very energizing, positive, transparent, someone with a good record,” he said.
Sununu, when asked whether another Biden term or another Trump term concerns him more, pointed to his concerns with having both on the ticket.
“I think you’re bringing up the exact right point: This is not what America wants,” Sununu told Todd.
“It doesn’t mean our primary system is broken. It means more of us have to be engaged in the system to make sure that our voice is heard as that 70% of Americans who always want to look forward. With Biden and Trump, all you’re doing is looking backwards and re-litigating a lot of drama. Nobody wants that.”
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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on Monday advised candidates in the first GOP debate on how to attack front-runner Donald Trump, who won’t even be there.
In a New York Times opinion piece, Sununu touted his status as the “governor of the first-in-the-nation primary state” and said he wanted to narrow the field to unite voters away from the former president and endorse “the best alternative to Trump.”
Sununu wrote that a debate victory for the participants on Wednesday in Milwaukee hinges on going after the former president, who is shackled by four indictments.
“To win, they must break free of Mr. Trump’s drama, step out of his shadow, go on offense, attack, and present their case. Then they need to see if they can catch fire this fall — and if they can’t, they need to step aside, because winnowing down the field of candidates is the single best chance to stop Mr. Trump,” said Sununu, a frequent critic of Trump.
“Too much is at stake for us to have wishful candidacies,” he added. “While the other Republican candidates are running to save America, Mr. Trump is running to save himself.”
Sununu complimented the “compelling stories” of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina but said they have to be willing to confront Trump. He praised Chris Christie’s boldness in criticizing Trump but recommended that the former New Jersey governor widen his message.
He pointed out New Hampshire’s role as a harbinger for securing the nomination ― the victor in the GOP primary there has won the nomination in each contest over the past 20 years.
“Once the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire are presented a clear alternative to Mr. Trump, his path forward darkens, and the Republican Party’s future begins to take shape,” he wrote. “The rest of the country needs to see not just that the emperor has no clothes, but that the Republican Party is able to refocus the conversation where it needs to be, on a nominee dedicated to saving America.”
Sununu has been a frequent critic of Trump. He recently said Trump drones on about his legal grievances in public instead of telling supporters how he’ll solve the country’s problems, “which is what all the other candidates are doing.”
Sununu also went after some Trump disciples who heckled former Vice President Mike Pence recently in New Hampshire. “Angry, unhinged Trump supporters? I don’t think anyone’s surprised to see it,” Sununu told CNN in an interview.
Scott Olson via Getty Images
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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday said Donald Trump should “cowboy up” and stop threatening to skip GOP primary debates ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Trump is reportedly thinking of missing one or both of the first two Republican debates, according to The New York Times, in part because he doesn’t want to give his rivals a chance to stand out in the race.
But in an interview with CBS News, Sununu argued that Trump ought to show up.
“The message is just really clear, you know — cowboy up, get in the saddle,” the GOP governor said. “Show us what you got, because if you want to be the leader of this country and the leader of the free world, you’ve got to show that you can still bring your fastball.”
The former president has also allegedly taken issue with Fox News anchor Bret Baier moderating the first GOP debate, set for Milwaukee in August. The Times reported that he is further annoyed by the fact that the second event will be held in Southern California at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which has Washington Post publisher — and previous target of Trump’s ire — Fred Ryan on its board of trustees.
Sununu said Trump’s latest public appearances, including in the state of New Hampshire, indicate that he no longer has the energy he once did.
“You don’t see the fire,” Sununu insisted, adding that Trump is now “playing a victim” following a New York grand jury’s decision to indict him over his role in a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 general election.
Still, the criminal charges against Trump have pushed the former president up in the polls, said Sununu, who conceded that Trump could end up being his party’s nominee for the White House.
“But my true belief is that Republicans are going to remember what happened in November of ’22 — remember the losses that we took with him, his candidates, and his messaging, and say, ‘We don’t want losers,’” Sununu added.
GOPers underperformed in last year’s midterm election, in part because multiple far-right candidates endorsed by Trump eventually flopped.
A few months ago, Sununu had appeared confident that Trump wouldn’t be the party’s choice for 2024.
“That’s just not going to happen,” he said in March.
Sununu, who has himself floated the idea of stepping into the 2024 presidential contest, told CBS News that he will make a decision by June.
If he chooses to run, Sununu could join a crowded field of candidates. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have already launched campaigns, while Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) has announced an exploratory committee.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence are also expected to throw their hats in the ring.
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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said on Sunday that he expects fellow Republicans to choose someone other than Donald Trump as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee, despite the indicted former president continuing to rally his followers ahead of the next election.
The moderate Republican, who himself is expected to announce a presidential run, told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he is a “lifelong Republican” who will support the GOP nominee. But when asked if that would change should Trump win the nomination, Sununu said that is “just not going to happen.”
“Obviously he’s in the race. He’s not going to be the nominee. That’s just not going to happen,” the governor said of Trump, adding that there is “a lot of opportunity” to bring the Republican Party forward without “yesterday’s leadership … or crying about what happened in November of ’22.”
“I’m really confident that whoever comes out of the Republican nomination process is going to lead this country and will be able to deliver a win in ’24 and I’ll back them.”
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Sununu has previously predicted that Trump would not be the GOP presidential nominee, saying last month that the 2024 race is just “not going that way” for Trump. On Saturday, the twice-impeached former president took the stage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference to repeat his usual list of lies and grievances — the closest thing to a campaign rally since announcing his 2024 candidacy in November.
During his speech, Trump promised he would take revenge on people who didn’t respect his followers should he win reelection. Todd framed the efforts by the former president — who is a major voice for the party and tried to incite an insurrection to keep himself in power — as an attempt to position himself as the outsider candidate in what’s expected to be a crowded pool of 2024 hopefuls.
“I think the former president has his own lane. He doesn’t need to carve anything,” said Sununu, who is also trying to carve out a position as the outsider. “He’s an absolute known commodity to every American in this country, right. There’s very few people that are on the fence, whether they’re with him or not with him, or whatever it might be.”
In addition to Trump, over a dozen Republicans have either announced a 2024 run or are likely to enter the race — though only three attended CPAC over the weekend, including onetime United Nations ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, one of Trump’s strongest critics in the party, confirmed on Sunday that he will not run for president.
In CPAC’s straw poll of declared and likely candidates, 62% of respondents said they would support Trump if the 2024 presidential primary were held today. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to be a top GOP contender, received the second highest votes.
“Right now, if the election were today, Ron DeSantis would win in New Hampshire, there’s no doubt about that in my mind. I think Ron DeSantis would win in Florida. So, I think the former president is trying to find a path to be back to that leading voice of the party,” said Sununu, a change of support from earlier comments in which he threw shade at the governor.
“I think a lot of us that potentially may get in the race want to have something to say about the direction of that conversation. But look, again, thank you for your service. We’re moving on,” he continued. “I just don’t believe the Republican Party is going to say that the best leadership for America tomorrow is yesterday’s leadership. That doesn’t make any sense. That is not in our DNA as Americans. It’s kind of the antithesis of the American spirit to settle for yesterday’s news. We want the next generation, the next big idea, and that’s what we’re going to deliver.”
Sununu said it would be detrimental for the party to “stay in this ultra-conservative extreme lane” because the GOP needs independent voters in order to win the race.
The New Hampshire governor declined to say if he is any closer to announcing his own run for president, stressing that he wants to focus on moving the party as a whole forward.
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A bipartisan bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New Hampshire passed its first big test Wednesday.
On a 234-127 vote, the House voted to advance a legalization bill to its Ways and Means Committee. Supporters hope New Hampshire will join 21 other states, including the rest of New England, in legalizing the drug, though the bill still has a long way to go.
Though several marijuana bills have cleared the House in recent years, the Senate has blocked them, and Republican Gov. Chris Sununu also has been an opponent. His office said last month he doesn’t expect new legislation to reach his desk this year with teen drug use and overdoses on the rise.
The latest effort would put the state’s Liquor Commission in charge of regulating marijuana, with a 15% tax levied at the cultivation level. Most of the tax revenue would go toward reducing the state’s pension liability and the state’s education trust fund, with some set aside substance abuse prevention programs and police training.
Rep. John Hunt, R-Rindge, invoked the state’s motto in favor of the bill.
“I want to make sure that New Hampshire citizens don’t have to go out of state to practice ‘Live Free or Die,’” he said.
He and other supporters said the bill would ensure the safety of cannabis and would allow for significant local input in the permitting and licensing of facilities. Opponents focused on the danger of teen use and noted strong opposition from the law enforcement…
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Washington
CNN
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GOP Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire said Sunday he is considering a White House bid in 2024, citing the Granite State’s “live free or die” spirit as a model for the Republican Party.
“Yes,” Sununu said when asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” whether he was considering a presidential run.
“I really don’t have a timeline. I’m spending a lot of time naturally trying to grow the party as Republicans, talk to independents, talk to the next generation of potential Republican voters that right now no one is really reaching out to,” he said.
So far, former President Donald Trump is the only high-profile Republican to have officially filed for a 2024 White House run, but several others, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are considering challenging him for the nomination.
Sununu, who won a fourth two-year term as governor by more than 15 points last fall, acknowledged Sunday that DeSantis “would probably win New Hampshire right now, without a doubt.” He said Trump, who spoke at a meeting of the New Hampshire GOP on Saturday, could win the state again but added that the former president was “not really bringing that fire, that energy, I think, that a lot of folks saw … in ’16.”
“He’s also going to have to earn it,” Sununu said of Trump. “And that’s New Hampshire. Even if you’re the former president, you got to come and earn it, person to person.”
Support for another Trump bid for the presidency among GOP-aligned voters declined across three CNN polls on the topic last year. In January 2022, the poll found a near-even split: 50% said they hoped Trump would be the nominee and 49% wanted someone else. By July, 44% wanted Trump to be the party’s nominee, and by December, 38% said the same.
Sununu was asked Sunday about a recent University of New Hampshire poll that showed DeSantis leading Trump 42% to 30% among likely state GOP primary voters, with all other polled candidates, including the Granite State governor, in single digits.
“I’m surprised other candidates, I think a lot of us, aren’t doing better,” Sununu said. “I’m surprised I’m on that poll at all, frankly.”
Whether or not he seeks the presidential nomination, Sununu said candidates should also know when to exit the race.
“I think there’s a lot of hope and opportunity for good candidates to get in, drive the message where it needs to be,” he said. “But the discipline is getting out too. The discipline and saying, ‘Look, you’re only polling at 5%, you got to get out.’ We don’t want a crowded field here.”
Sununu on Sunday outlined the values that would anchor a potential White House bid as he called for Republicans to return to “believing in individual responsibility” rather than wading into cultural fights.
“I think a lot of Republican leadership is getting behind this idea that we have to fight. And I get it, as, in a leadership position, you have to be willing to have the fight. But we cannot have leadership that is only about the fight,” he said.
Politics runs in Sununu’s family: He is the 82nd governor of New Hampshire, while his father, John H. Sununu, was the 75th governor, serving from 1983 to 1989, before becoming President George H.W. Bush’s White House chief of staff. His older brother, John E. Sununu, represented the state in the House and Senate from 1997 to 2009.
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Washington
CNN
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New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu believes that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election but is supporting Don Bolduc – a GOP Senate nominee who has consistently pushed election falsehoods – because he is considering a “variety of issues” in making his choice on Election Day.
“It is not just a one-issue – you can’t say, ‘Well, based on that one issue, we vehemently disagree, so, therefore, we shouldn’t be casting our vote.’ I don’t think anybody should be a one-issue voter regardless of the issue,” Sununu told “CNN This Morning” hosts on Tuesday.
Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general who is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, has shifted his answers related to false 2020 election claims, though he has still pushed some falsehoods after securing the Republican nomination to represent the Granite State in the US Senate.
“We might disagree on what happened in 2020 or folks are focusing on the conspiracy theories around the 2020 election. At the end of the day, the vast majority of voters, especially those independent voters that still haven’t made up their mind, they’re voting on inflation, they’re voting on the cost of goods, they’re voting on not being able to make their mortgage or find housing,” said Sununu, who is seeking reelection.
Recent CNN polls conducted by SSRS in battleground states have found that the economy is the foremost issue for voters this midterm season, well ahead of voting rights and election integrity.
Asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins if he thinks congressional Republicans and Bolduc have a plan to combat the inflation that they have often cited on the campaign trail, Sununu said, “Well, one thing I’m really confident of is if you send the same people back to Washington, you ain’t going to get a different result. Not even close.”
Sununu, who endorsed one of Bolduc’s opponents in the primary race, touted Bolduc as a war hero who has worked on mental health issues and said Bolduc wants “to mix things up.”
“You can’t say that just by electing the same old Democrats you’re going to get a different result. We want different results across this country and the only way to do that is to bring a different system,” he said.
Sununu also condemned a joke made on Monday by Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in regard to the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
“There is just no place for it. This is serious,” he said before adding, “lines are moving on both sides. This isn’t just one party or the other.”
Sununu then referred to the alleged plot to murder conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as well as the shootings of GOP Rep. Steve Scalise and Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as evidence of escalating violence in American politics.
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CNN
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New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu sat for an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday night. The topic of election denialism – specifically related to New Hampshire Republican Senate nominee Don Bolduc – came up. Here’s the exchange:
Tapper: Gov. Sununu, you’re a sane Republican at a time when a lot of people are looking for sane Republicans. Are you hurting the cause of sane Republicans when you embrace people like that?
Sununu: No, look, this is about having folks in Washington, DC, that put New Hampshire first. Was the election stolen? Of course it wasn’t stolen. That’s nonsense, absolute nonsense, and it’s great to see him actually backtrack on that. But that isn’t the issue folks are going to vote on. Mar-a-Lago is not the issue folks are going to vote on. The people vote in their own self-interest, as they should, right? We should be a little bit selfish with our vote.
What’s best for my family, what’s best for my business, my opportunities – that’s what a good vote is all about. And that’s why, again, Don Bolduc is going to win this race. You have to be present, you have to be in the state, you have to understand these issues and be willing to make tough decisions.”
Before I go any further, I want to go backwards – to what Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general taking on Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan this November, has said about the 2020 election.
During a debate in August, Bolduc said this: “I signed a letter with 120 other generals and admirals saying that Donald Trump won the election and, damn it, I stand by [it].”
Then, days after winning the Republican Senate primary in September, Bolduc changed his tune. “I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I’ve spent the past couple of weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party, and I have come to the conclusion – and I want to be definitive on this – the election was not stolen,” he said.
But wait, there’s more! Earlier this month, asked by a voter about the 2020 election, Bolduc said: “I can’t say that it was stolen or not. I don’t have enough information.”
Bolduc told CNN in an interview after the town hall that the election was “not stolen” but said that there were “irregularities and fraud.”
It has been a journey! But where Bolduc appears to have landed is on the notion that it’s still possible the 2020 election was fraudulent, which it was not.
Now back to Sununu. Although he and Bolduc have had their differences – Bolduc has called Sununu a “Chinese communist sympathizer” and a “globalist world-government guy,” while Sununu has called Bolduc a “conspiracy theory extremist” – Sununu is now supporting him out of a sense, it seems, of party loyalty. Yeah, they don’t see the world exactly the same way, but they’re both Republicans, so it just makes sense that Sununu would support Bolduc.
But there’s an elision of logic inherent in that compromise that is dangerous.
One of them believes – or is at least willing to keep open the option – that, contrary to all of the evidence, that there was fraud in the 2020 election. This isn’t a policy disagreement. This is about the very bones of our democracy, the notion that we hold free and fair elections – whether or not the candidate you supported winds up winning.
Sununu isn’t the only Republican leader making this same sort of mistake.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday campaigned for Arizona gubernatorial nominee – and prominent election denier – Kari Lake. Of his decision, Youngkin said last month: “I am comfortable supporting Republican candidates, and we don’t agree on everything. I mean, I have said that I firmly believe that Joe Biden was elected president.”
Again, this isn’t just a disagreement over some policy plank. The issue here is whether the 2020 election was free and fair. You can’t just yada-yada the notion that someone you are endorsing for high office actually believes that the last election was stolen!
By casting election denialism as just another policy position, the likes of Youngkin and Sununu – both of whom have national ambitions of their own – are trying to put a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. If you don’t believe in the fundamental tenets of democracy that have been followed since the founding of the country, all the other stuff doesn’t really matter.
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CNN
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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Sunday he will decide “in the next week or two” if he wants to mount a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and enter an already crowded field of candidates.
“When I start doing something, I’m 120% in,” the governor said on CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview with Jake Tapper. “Pretty soon, we’ll make a decision, probably in the next week or two. And we’ll either be go or no-go,” he added.
Sununu’s remarks come as the list of 2024 GOP hopefuls continues to expand, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott entering the race last week.
Currently in his fourth term, the New Hampshire governor said figuring out where he could be most effective would factor into his 2024 decision.
“I still have a 24/7 job,” he said. “The money has been lined up. The support’s been lined up. There’s a pathway to win. All that – those boxes are checked. The family’s on board, which is always a big one. I just got to make sure it’s right for the party and right for me,” he said.
Sununu also said he wanted to ensure he wasn’t more useful outside the presidential race as he looks to steer the Republican Party away from the chaos of its current primary front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
“Making sure that when it comes to where I want to see the party go … that maybe I talk a little differently, I talk with a different approach. I want more candidates to be empowered. Can I do that more effectively as a candidate? Can I do that more effectively as someone who’s kind of traveling the country, maybe speaking a little more freely?” Sununu said.
“I just want what’s best for the party,” he continued. “It doesn’t have to be the Chris Sununu show all the time.”
With Trump leading in current GOP primary polling, Sununu said the former president was playing the “victim card.”
“Former President Trump is doing better than anybody thought. He is playing this victim card. The media, the DA in New York, all these things have kind of worked in his favor very much,” the governor said. “Just the fact that we are talking about Donald Trump as a victim, I mean, that is unique in itself. But that is not lasting, necessarily. That does not mean the support he has today turns into a vote nine months from now.”
Sununu avoided harsh criticism of his other potential rivals, calling DeSantis a “very good governor” and praising him for embarking upon a retail politics tour of New Hampshire. The two met for an hour earlier this month when the Florida governor visited the Granite State to meet with state legislators.
But Sununu suggested Sunday that DeSantis’ focus on cultural fights back in Florida avoided more important issues, such as government efficiency.
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t talk about the culture war stuff, don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I just don’t believe government is going to solve a culture war.”
DeSantis’ recent pledge to consider pardoning some participants in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was not “disqualifying” for a presidential candidate, Sununu said, even if it’s not something he would do himself.
Meanwhile, Sununu said the agreement in principle struck by the White House and Republican negotiators on raising the debt ceiling was likely a win since some members of both parties are now balking at the deal.
“It is a miracle, I mean release the doves,” the governor said. “Washington is actually moving forward. Both sides seem pretty frustrated, which means it’s probably a pretty good deal, actually.”
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