CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Chris Sununu

Interview

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Joining me is Republican Governor Chris Sununu, who announced this month that he plans to run for reelection there in New Hampshire and stay as far away from where I am, in Washington, as possible.

Thank you so much, Governor, for joining me.

Let's first start on the president's agenda. House Democrats just passed the sweeping social safety net and climate bill.

I want to put up on the screen some of what is in this bill, clean energy, climate incentives, universal pre-K, expanded child tax credits, paid family leave, new health care subsidies and benefits, and more. Poll after poll shows these policies are broadly popular with voters in both parties.

So do you think it is a mistake for Republicans here in Washington to dismiss that and oppose these measures?

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): It's not about the measures and the policies. Everyone likes those things. They're good things.

But this is an immense amount of money. And we don't run a balanced budget in Washington. We sure as heck do here in New Hampshire. Somebody has to pay for all of us this. We have got good programs at the state level that do a lot of these things.

So, look, more programs and all that sound good, but, at the end of the day, they have to be paid for and they have to be sustainable, because these aren't programs that we're just going to do for a couple of years. This is one-time money, most of it, but it now has to get built into a budget.

Washington doesn't seem to understand the concept of a budget, but somebody has to pay this. It's not just you and me. It's our kids and grandkids.

BASH: So, they...

SUNUNU: So, the fiscal responsibility has left the window out of Washington, D.C., and I think that's a frustration for all Americans.

BASH: They say that it is paid for, that they have ways to offset the costs.

SUNUNU: Yes, it's called taxes. Right.

So, one thing -- one of the reasons I want to stay as governor is because, as they keep raising taxes on everybody in Washington, D.C., I keep lowering them and Republican governors keep lowering them for their citizens to offset that.

Inflation, in itself, is the worst tax you can put on low- and middle- income families across America, because they got to buy a gallon of gas as much as anybody else. And so this idea that this -- we're going to spend $1.75 trillion, but, trust us, it's not going to cost you anything, nobody buys that.

The American people are smart. They're voters. They're going to vote with their feet. And if people did buy it, you would see poll numbers changing. You would see this stuff get overwhelming support from the American people, not just from one party or the other.

So, overall, you have got to find ways to get to the middle. You don't do that just by cutting a price tag from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion. You do it by looking at what happens at a local level. How do you make sure these programs can get implemented?

[09:05:00]

Remember, the Senate supports a policy. They support funding. And then they go under on to the next thing. It's governors and the citizens in local communities that have to implement these programs and that feel the real cost of them. So...

BASH: So, Governor, you talked about inflation, you have been critical of President Biden and the way he's handled rising inflation.

Gas prices in New Hampshire, I don't have to tell you, are almost 70 percent higher than last year at this time. I know you're worried about the cost of home heating this winter. What do you want the president to do that he's not already doing?

SUNUNU: So, a couple things.

When you talk -- number one, when you talk about gas and home heating fuels, the fact that he has limited the supply, said we're not going to create more supply here in the United States, well, fuel is a futures market.

So when all these companies hear that their future supply is going to be diminished here in the U.S., yet the president is asking OPEC to produce more overseas, and he's approving pipelines out of Russia that are more -- or, I should say, less environmentally sound than what we would do here, it doesn't really make much logical sense.

And so that has a huge trigger into the market. Home heating fuel is a big deal, not just on the cost, that's bad enough, but the supply chain, making sure we can get the trucks from point A to point B.

This coming February, the federal government is going to put in further regulations and further barriers to getting a CDL license, just getting someone a trucking license. That's going to actually have real impact, not just moving products onto a grocery shelf, but actually moving heating fuel where it needs to go.

So these are real policies that happened in Washington that we feel every single day in our communities.

BASH: Well, you just passed up a pretty good chance to have a say of what's going on here in Washington when you announced that you're not going to run for the Senate in New Hampshire next year.

You can actually still see Republicans around town wiping their tears from their eyes because they were so sad about it. A lot of them thought, really, that you were the best chance to take back that seat, maybe even flip the Senate. Why did you say no?

SUNUNU: You can just get so much more done as a governor.

Look, being a governor, especially over the past two years, I think people have come to realize that governors are the ones that have to implement, design programs, create opportunities. And we actually, as governors, have the best opportunity to offset what -- some of the negative things coming out of Washington.

When we see these vaccine mandates that are really impacting work force, they're impacting businesses, we're suing three times over. The Senate and the House really don't have any power to do that, because, with these executive orders, they're kind of going right past Congress.

So, as a governor, you can actually play defense and protect the interests of your citizens against the negative stuff coming out of D.C., as well as creating those opportunities. With the infrastructure money coming, with ARP money still out there, with what we did with the CARES Act, it's governors that are designing those programs to make sure we're getting the best bang for our buck, we're putting the right roads money where it can be.

With oil, steel, all of these supply chain issues driving up in both cost and in limited supply, how you implement those infrastructure dollars is going to be a real challenge.

BASH: So, you are a prominent Republican governor, so I want to ask a couple of questions about your party.

Many in the GOP want to kick 13 House Republicans who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill off their committees. At the same time, you have Republican Congressman Gosar sharing a video showing him killing a Democratic congresswoman, and only two Republicans wanted to strip him of his committees.

What does that say to you about the GOP? Voting for a bipartisan bill is considered worse by many than encouraging violence. SUNUNU: Look, I don't think -- I think politics in its entirety on

both sides of the aisle in Washington is screwed up. I mean, it really is.

They have got their priorities all wrong. They focus on the wrong things. They don't talk about balancing budgets. They don't talk about fixing health care, immigration reform. Social Security and Medicare are going to be broken in about 10 years. You better get around to fixing that, because I have elderly citizens that are counting on those types of programs.

And, instead, we spend all of our time focusing on these nitpicky things. And I think, when a congressman says those things and puts that thing up, of course they have to be censured for that. Of course they have to be held to bear for that.

When we talk about kicking people off of committees because they don't like one vote or the other, again, I just think they have their priorities screwed up.

BASH: So, you're talking -- just to be clear...

SUNUNU: So, I don't either party's going to get 60 votes in -- yes.

BASH: I know you're talking about both parties, but, as a Republican, I'm asking you about Republicans.

It sounds to me like you said that...

SUNUNU: Sure.

BASH: ... Paul Gosar should have been censured and stripped of his committees and that...

SUNUNU: Yes.

BASH: And Republicans -- and it's OK for Republicans to support a bipartisan infrastructure bill?

SUNUNU: Of course.

Look, I think it's OK for Republicans to support anything that is bipartisan.

BASH: What does it say about your party that they're being attacked the way they are?

SUNUNU: Again, I think it says that we have our priorities wrong.

Republicans have had huge successes, with cutting taxes, limiting government, creating -- creating opportunities in schools, supporting parents, making sure kids -- those are our wins, and those are America's wins, and those are wins from not -- Republicans and independents and even some of the conservative Democrats.

And that's what we have to focus on as a party. [09:10:00]

BASH: Governor -- Governor, I was in New Hampshire the day that you announced that you wouldn't run for Senate. I was there covering Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who is facing an uncertain political future and intense criticism from her party over her position January 6.

Do you think there's room for Liz Cheney in the Republican Party, and, specifically -- you're in New Hampshire -- in the 2024 primary process?

SUNUNU: Well, I think there's room for everybody in the Republican Party. I really do. Whether you're independent or Democrat, I think we got room for everybody to come on -- come on board. And I think that's what you're going to see over the next year.

So it's not about -- it can't be about one particular issue. That's kind of that social media mob mentality that's built up in this country, where we think it's -- we don't agree with one issue, so we're going to attack and we're going to vilify one person or one individual.

We got to get beyond that, because, culturally, it's really, really ruining America. And we got to get back to showing that public service can work, and especially at a localized level.

BASH: What about you? Are you thinking about running for president in 2024?

SUNUNU: Now, people have asked me about that. And I got a -- I have got to win in '22. I still have an election and earn the votes of the people in New Hampshire in 2022, serve a couple years.

We will see what the future brings. But there is a lot to do and a lot to not just push back with Washington, but a lot to implement here. It's -- being governor is one of the most challenging jobs you can ever imagine. You got to be on 24/7. But I have the opportunity to do things, a dozen different things every single day that impact people's lives.

BASH: Yes.

SUNUNU: It's incredibly fulfilling. And that's the job I'm focused on.

BASH: You just happen to be doing it in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

I want to let the record reflect that you did not say no.

(LAUGHTER)

SUNUNU: There you go.

BASH: Governor, thank you so much for joining me. Appreciate it.

SUNUNU: Thank you, Dana. Be good.

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