'This Week' Transcript 7-30-23: Gov. Chris Sununu, Rep. Dan Goldman and Actor Matthew McConaughey
Interview
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Well, it's kind of the boy who cried wolf, right? I mean we've -- we've seen the indictments, one, two, three times. We expect more to come. The average voter right now just considers them all to be politically driven. And -- and whether that was the intention of the Department of Justice or not, they're -- they're allowing Donald Trump to play this victim card very, very well. But, ultimately, it -- it doesn't -- it doesn't pan out. Six months from now it's going to be a very different story. I think the reality is that Donald Trump cannot actually win the vote in November of "24. He can get the nomination, but he can't actually close the deal against Biden. So, if you're going to support Trump, you've going to hand it to the Biden and Kamala Harris administration. That is not a good thing. And that's why I think a lot of these other candidates are going to have an opportunity to surge.
We're going to narrow that field down. It's not going to be 13 people going into Iowa and New Hampshire by any means. And then definitely by Super Tuesday, I think it's a one-on-one race and the former president loses. I mean that's just how the math is -- is ultimately going to play out because the majority of Republicans don't want Donald Trump. If you look at the polls, he's under 40 percent. In New Hampshire he's at about 42, 41 percent. Here in Iowa, which I'm visiting, I'm the governor of New Hampshire, not Iowa, but -- so, when you look at that, it's not what he has, it's what he doesn't have, right? And -- and again, in the next six months, it's only going to get worse.
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Well, Trump -- Trump got a warm reception, but it was without a doubt. And I think anybody in that room would tell you, it was the worst speech. It was the worst 10 minutes. He came out. He read -- he read from a binder. He didn't look up. He didn't smile. It was -- it was absolutely dead speech.
And this is not the Donald Trump of 2016. Don't fool yourself. And as more and more folks realize that, he doesn't have the energy, he doesn't have the fast ball, he basically is droning on for 90 minutes on his long form speeches about his legal battles as opposed to talking about the future of this country, solving the problems of this country, which is what all the other candidates are doing.
So, at some point, look, every -- ever see a soap opera, they get kind of boring. The only thing worse is the rerun of a soap opera, and that's what he's bringing, a lot of drama to the table.
The other candidates are doing well. I think Vivek had a -- had a very strong speech. I think Tim Scott. Doug Burgum really connected with folks on kind of that small town feel. He's the guy that grew up in a small town, on a small farm. That connected with a lot of folks.
So, a lot of the other candidates are showing something. I'm going to give DeSantis a lot of credit. I think he came out early. He took his 10 minutes but didn't drone on, but really got the crowd fired up.
So, some of these candidates are coming with it to be sure.
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Well, he --
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So, a couple things. He is the sitting -- he is an incumbent president. So, anyone who thinks that he wouldn't be at the top, of course, he was going to be at the top. He's got the name ID, the recognition, all of that. Again, the fact that the majority of Republicans clear don't want him, that's an opportunity.
And then it's about galvanizing. That's what it takes. These candidates have got to find out who's the best of the others, so to say, but they're all quality candidates, they all bring something a little different to the table.
I think you'll see three or four of the 12 or 13 that don't even make the first debate. Maybe five. I think you'll see three or four stuck in low single digits in late October, November. And there will be a lot of pressure for them to drop.
I think you'll see four, five, maybe six come into Iowa. Three or four or five maybe come into New Hampshire. And then everything kind of falls from there and you're down to a one-on-one race.
And that's the Iowa/New Hampshire opportunity to really filter things out. We -- this is where the conversations are happening, where voters are getting a lot of one-on-one contact. And I think that's the opportunity for the Republican Party.
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No. Look -- no, no. Look, I'm going to make sure Trump isn't the candidate. I know No Labels is doing their thing. It's an interesting -- it's an interesting opportunity given 70 percent of America, not just Republicans, but America doesn't want Trump or Biden, right? They don't want either of them on the ballot.
So there's an amazing -- you call them politically homeless, right? They don't have a political home, anyone to go to, and that's the void that I think this No Labels thing would be trying to fill.
So, we'll see where the (INAUDIBLE) and all that.
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The Republican nominee is not going to be Donald Trump. And I'll be supporting -- I'll be supporting that candidate (ph) for sure.
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No. No, look, I -- I think that the accusations against Biden, Hunter, and President Biden are very real. They have to play out in court. We have to find out what all the evidence is. Nobody even knows any of that, right?
So, if they're found guilty of something, that -- that opens up a whole different story because we're talking potential bribery. That's an incredibly serious accusation. And so, therefore, if found guilty, yeah, I think Congress should definitely take something up.
But I think they're really, really far from really figuring out what the realities there are. But those are very serious accusations that have to be followed up for sure.
But, look, America has got amazing problems around mental health, around the opioid crisis, fighting to secure the border, having somebody in Washington, D.C., have some fiscal sanity because even Republicans don't do a very good job of that lately. You know, really -- things that really impact everyday lives of Americas. And I'd rather have the focus on those issues. And if the guilty verdict comes out of the Bidens and comes to bear, they can take it up at that, at the appropriate time.
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You bet.
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