washington
CNN
—
New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said Sunday he is considering a run for the White House in 2024, citing the Granite State’s “freedom or death” ethos as a model for the GOP.
“Yes,” Sununu said when asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” if he was considering running for president.
“I don’t really have a timeline. I spend a lot of time naturally trying to make the Republican Party a Republican, talking to independents, talking to the next generation of potential Republican voters that nobody’s really reaching out to right now, “He said.
So far, former President Donald Trump is the only high-profile Republican to formally apply to run for the 2024 White House, but several other Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are considering a challenge. his nomination.
Sununu, who won a fourth two-year term as governor last fall by more than 15 points, acknowledged Sunday that DeSantis “could win New Hampshire without a doubt right now.” Trump, who spoke Saturday at the New Hampshire GOP conference, could win the state again, he said, but added that the former president “didn’t really bring that passion, that energy, I think, A lot of people saw it… ’16.
“He’s going to have to win it too,” Sununu said of Trump. “That’s New Hampshire. Even if you’re a former president, you have to come and earn it yourself.”
Support for Trump’s re-election bid for the presidency fell among Republican-aligned voters last year in three CNN polls. In January 2022, the poll found nearly even: 50 percent said they wanted Trump as the nominee, and 49 percent wanted someone else. By July, 44% wanted Trump to be the party’s nominee, and by December, 38% said yes.
Sununu was asked Sunday about a recent University of New Hampshire poll that showed DeSantis leading Trump among likely state Republican primary voters 42 percent to 30 percent, while all others surveyed Candidates, including the Granite State governor, are leading by single digits.
“I’m surprised the other candidates, and I think a lot of us, didn’t do better,” Sununu said. “Frankly, I’m surprised I got to go to that poll.”
Whether or not he seeks the presidential nomination, a candidate should also know when to drop out of the race, Sununu said.
“I think there’s a lot of hope and opportunity for good candidates to come in and get the message where it’s needed,” he said. “But discipline is also disappearing. Discipline and saying, ‘Look, you’ve only got 5 percent turnout, you’ve 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 on Republicans to return to a “belief in individual responsibility” rather than getting embroiled in cultural battles.
“I think a lot of the Republican leadership supports the idea that we have to fight. I get that because in leadership positions, you have to be willing to fight. But we can’t have leadership that’s only about fighting,” he said.
The Sununu family runs politics: He was the 82nd governor of New Hampshire, while his father, John H. Sununu, was the 75th governor, serving from 1983 to 1989 before becoming George White House chief of staff to President H.W. Bush. His older brother, John E. Sununu, represented the state in the House of Representatives and Senate from 1997 to 2009.
