Meet the Press - April 23, 2023
Interview
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Thanks. Thanks for having me.
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Yes, there's definitely a shift. But I still don't think he's necessarily going to be the nominee. Look, I think your poll is spot-on in all these areas, by the way. I think that's actually a great poll, and I hope folks listen to it. I'll say this, Republicans are rallying. They're supporting former President Trump over these indictments, right? And there's a lot of support there. Now, does it actually translate into a vote? We will see. I mean, most folks don't decide who they're voting for until about three weeks before the election. So there's a lot of politics to play out. There's -- not even a single debate has been had. Other candidates are going to get in the race. So I just think it's so far away. And at the end of the day, we want a winner, right? Republicans want someone who can win in November of '24. Donald Trump is a loser. He has not just lost once -- he lost us our House seats in 2018, he lost everything in '20. We should have 54 U.S. Senators right now. We don't because of his message. So Donald Trump is positioning himself to be a four-time loser in 2024. We need candidates that can win.
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Well, it's not just 2020, right? We got crushed in 2022. We should have 54 U.S. Senate seats. We don't because he is part of that message. We lost in 2018. So it's not just about whether he won or lost in '20, which he did, of course. But it's really about are -- we can complain about things, or we can make sure that -- you know, you can't govern if you don't win. And again, so he drags that ticket down. I think that reality is going to really come to bear in through the primary process. So I understand folks are supporting him. They think that a lot of the stuff with the DA is political, which I believe it is too, by the way. It's creating a lot of sympathy. He's playing the victim card, right? But believe it or not, former President Trump is now playing the victim card, and he's making some headway with it. But at the end of the day, it has to turn into votes. Look, I talk all the time about, you know, we want a fighter, right? Republicans want someone who's going to fight for them. But we also want a fighter that can win. He said he was going to go to Washington and drain the swamp. He didn't do it. He said he was going to build a wall and secure things. He didn't do it. He said he was going to give us health care reform and be fiscally disciplined, not add $8 trillion so -- to the debt. He didn't do any of those things. And so we want fighters that can actually win and take accountability.
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Sure. Well, look, I'm a very principled, free market conservative, right? When you look at the Second Amendment, we're the best in the country, with personal freedoms. We need to remind ourselves as Republicans what we're really good at: limited government, local control, low taxes, individual responsibility. That's something that everybody can rally around. And frankly, in New Hampshire, as we say, "We're wicked good at, we're wicked good at that." So when you look at the candidates that are on the ground and results-driven, I'll put my record of success behind, against almost any other candidate that would potentially step on the stage. And so results-driven winners are really who are going to drive the voter. We're still a long way away, again, from what the issues of the voter are going to be.
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Yes, so that's where I'll really challenge you. Look, the next generation of Republicans, right, if you look at the polls from about 45 and under, when you look at their priorities, you know, banning abortion is not one of their priorities. It's not. You know, they care about all these other kind of things in a conservative, fiscally conservative way. They want kind of that new generation of Republican to step up. It's not kind of the old school way. And so kind of talking about those issues that are important to them, not just us and how we're traditional. If we stay in our traditional lanes, we're going to lose. There's no doubt about it. So whether it's me or another candidate that really connects with folks, that kind of inspires that next generation of Republican to get into that voting booth, that's what's going to be successful.
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Look, every time Republicans start talking about abortion, we're losing. We are. Because it is a states' issue. That's effectively what Dobbs has allowed to happen.
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When it is a state issue--
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-- the voters have direct accountability. I'm sorry.
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They could, and they shouldn't. And they shouldn't.
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No, it should be -- it's a state issue. And every time a Republican talks about banning this, or this many weeks here or there, we are losing. We are. Every Republican potential candidate, take a piece of paper and write this down. It's a state issue, let the voters in the states figure it out. We shouldn't be talking about it on a national level. We're moving on, and that's it. That's the new way. I don't think 50 years of precedent should've been broken with Roe v. Wade. I don't -- I mean, this mifepristone stuff, 20 years of precedent, and one judge that no one even knows the name of is going to try to ban all that. That sends, that sends a lot of insecurity through the system in terms of our messaging as Republicans. Let's get back to what we do best: limited government, local control, a little bit of that "Live Free or Die" thing we have here in New Hampshire. That is a record to actually cross the finish line and have winners in November.
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Yes, look, those are absolute tragedies. And unfortunately, they're happening more often than we'd like to see. The mass shootings are real, they're happening at an increased rate. But if you -- if the idea is, "Well, we should just pass more laws," if that was the answer, then why didn't Democrats when they ran the House, they controlled the Senate, they controlled the presidency over the last two years, why didn't they do anything? Because they know it's not about passing more laws. They know that places like Chicago that have the most, some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country still have some of the worst crime and, frankly, the most irresponsibility with the mass shootings in all of this. I'm a believer that you have to get to the crux of the issue, right? I'm the governor of one of the safest states in the country, where we also have some of the most flexible, pro-Second Amendment rules and laws in the country because we take those things very responsibly. We harden schools, we deal with mental health, especially in kids. We go after the core of the issue instead of saying, "Well, we should just pass more laws." If it were that easy, people would do it. But it's not. If it were that easy, even Democrats would do it. They didn't. So stop trying to take these tragedies, these human tragedies, and making -- trying to make political fodder out of them. It's a real losing effort, I think, on the Democrats' part.
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Well, I would say that in urban environments, they've tightened their gun laws, right? They're trying these red flag laws. Look at the red flag laws in Chicago, just as an example. Over the past two or three years, you've had nearly 2,000 deaths by firearms and murders. I think the red flag laws have been actually implemented less than a dozen times, right? So as they try these new things, as they try these more restrictive laws in those urban areas that you're talking about, it's not working, right? So I guess that would just what we're doing here in New Hampshire --
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-- is working. What those areas are doing doesn't.
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Well, that's right. That's right. More laws aren't the answer. More responsibility --
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-- dealing with mental health, actually having -- I'm sorry?
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I mean, supporting police, securing your streets, holding people accountable. Enough of this bail reform nonsense. Holding folks accountable so they don't feel like they can get away with everything. There's a lot of that going on across the country in a whole variety of ways, specifically in those urban areas you're talking about.
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Probably by lunch, something like that.
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No, look, I mean --
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Yes, I think everybody will have to make a decision by Fourth of July, get their exploratory committees. I think there's a lot of new candidates that are stepping up, saying, "Hey, wait, there's lanes here. There's a lot of opportunity here." Whether it's money to get your exploratory stuff done. A lot of folks want to get on that stage. I think the thresholds for the debate are going to be very low to start, in terms of polling numbers and donors. So I think you're going to have a very crowded stage early on, potentially.
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Neither. It really is -- it's about family, it's about what's best. You know, I still have a state to run. I have a 24/7 job as governor, so I have to make sure we're maintaining that. What we can bring to the table, not overcrowding a field, and where I can be most effective for my party, not just for Chris Sununu. I want Republicans to win as a team in November of '24, and if I can be effective in that as a candidate or not, well, that will help make the decision.
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You bet, buddy.
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