Chris Sununu defends his sudden support for Donald Trump
TV host George Stephanopoulos questions New Hampshire governor's support for Trump after years of criticism
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has been criticising former United States president Donald Trump for causing GOP doom and facing numerous investigations.
In a June 2023 column, Sununu, 49, criticised Trump, 77, for promoting the conspiracy theory that he won the 2020 presidential election.
However, he now seeks to let bygones be bygones, including aninsurrection and a potential criminal conviction, according to the Daily Beast.
Sununu, who endorsed Nikki Haley in the primaries, faced questions from TV host George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Sunday about his support for the twice-impeached former president despite having held him reponsible forthe deadly January 6 insurrection in 2021.
"For me, it’s not about him as much as it is having a Republican administration, Republican secretaries, Republican rules, a sense where states’ rights come first, individual rights come first, and we’ll have a pro-business economy,” Sununu said.
"We won’t have a cancel culture that has infiltrated across America. It’s not about Trump with me."
Stephanopoulos argued that Trump would still be president, overseeing the Republican administration. He noted to Sununu that, by standing by his 2021 statement, he was supporting an insurrectionist.
"As does 51% of America, George,” he said.
Sununu shifted from his previous criticisms of Trump, including his federal indictments, stating that his support for the indicted Republican presidential candidate was more about politics than personal favoritism.
"Look, nobody should be shocked that the Republican governor is supporting the Republican president," Sununu said.
Eventually, Stephanopoulos had enough of Sununu’s indifference toward Trump after his yearslong bashing of the former president.
"Just to sum up, you would support him for president even if he was convicted in classified documents," Stephanopoulos started. "You would support him for president, even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection.
"You support him for president even though you believe he’s lying about the last election, you support him for president even if he's convicted in the Manhattan case. I just wanna say, the answer to that is yes, correct?"
"Yeah, me and 51% of America," Sununu responded.