New Hampshire Governor Sununu Says Nikki Haley Could Win State And ‘Reset’ GOP Primary in Spite of Trump’s Massive Lead
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) argued that former Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley could overcome former President Donald Trump’s lead to win his state’s and the national Republican presidential primary, while on MSNBC Friday.
After anchor Andrea Mitchell noted that Haley finished in a distant second — nearly 30 points behind Trump — in a recent Monmouth University/Washington Post poll, Sununu submitted that “most folks in New Hampshire still won’t make up their mind for the next few weeks.”
Sununu, who endorsed Haley on Tuesday, touted Haley’s performance as a governor and international diplomat, but really emphasized her ability to connect with voters.
“But for New Hampshire voters, most importantly, you got to connect. You’ve got to just be genuine, you got to just be yourself, and she does that. She doesn’t just tell you what she’s about, she wants to hear what your questions are. And I think by doing that, spending time on the ground with our voters, she’s earning their trust,” said Sununu. “She’s got that charisma, more than pretty much any other candidate out there.”
Later in the interview, Mitchell asked Sununu if Chris Christie’s criticism of Haley and Ron DeSantis for training their fire on each other rather than Trump had merit.
“Chris is a great friend, great candidate. He has his own style. Really, really going nuclear, if you will, on Donald Trump. I don’t think you can just demand that everybody does that. Everyone’s going to, you know, have their message,” began Sununu. “I think Nikki does a great job talking about what she brings to the table, not just what she isn’t, not just about what the other candidates don’t, you know, the problems that they’re going to have. She calls Trump out for what it is. She says it, you know, that she believes he was the right president at the right time. But we got to move forward and we got to move forward without distractions.”
He continued:
And I think a lot of folks who haven’t really paid attention to this race are saying, ‘Yeah, that’s the right message. Yeah, these numbers are moving, we can do this.’ And if in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley can win this thing, it’s a real reset button on the whole election. The national media has never talked about the opportunity to beat Trump or a one-on-one race. No one’s believed it, but now the numbers show it; it really can happen.
And that would create an incredible opportunity where it’s really a one-on-one race, Trump finally has to engage in debates. He finally has to engage on the issues. Right now, like he’ll fly into New Hampshire, he’ll do a rally. He kind of flies in, flies out, no questions, no answers.
Doesn’t talk, doesn’t have the energy, doesn’t talk like he did in 2016. He’s a completely different candidate for the worse, frankly. So he’s gotten away with staying out of the limelight. But if he has to take someone on one-on-one, he’s in trouble. And I think everybody sees the opportunity. Political momentum, as you know, Andrea, political momentum is a very real thing. People want to get behind that. And when they see a big win for Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, I think all bets are off and everything is on the table to get, you know, again, that conservative leadership of the next generation leading this country forward.
Watch above via MSNBC.
