Meet the Press - September 3, 2023: Chris Sununu

Interview

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Well, thanks for having me.

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Well, again, first -- first off, Governor Kemp is spot -- spot on. The guy's an oak. He's the oak of Georgia, and he's got some big shoulders and he handles it just incredibly every time. And, you know, you don't have to make it personal. I'm not saying other candidates do that. I mean, when you're running for president against the former president it's -- it's a very odd dynamic to be sure. The key to taking on, not just taking on Trump -- you just call the balls and strikes like you see them. You don't make things personal. You do things that are clearly in the best interest of the constituents you serve, regardless of -- of party. Now, I'm a staunch fiscal conservative, and I -- I want to support Republican ideals but that doesn't mean we're going to bend and break rules because when you do that you set precedent for the other side. Now, as for the other candidates running for president, I think you're right. I think they have to be a little tougher on Trump. You know, Chris Christie kind of really goes nuclear on him, and God bless Christie does a great job with that. He exposes a lot of that, which I think is important. But I think what we saw on that debate stage last week I think there was a little -- still a little too much kowtowing to him. I mean, you had Vivek saying he was one of the greatest presidents but -- but he was going to be better than him. You know, he was still going to be running against him. So, it was a -- it was an odd dynamic to be sure. There's still a lot of -- a lot of time here, lot of time for this to play out on the main stage.

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Yeah, look, I'm -- I'm surprised by those numbers. I am. Look, nationally the polls are very different than what we're seeing where the conversation's really happening. I appreciate we've had one debate nationally. I think that's a very important step. But look at Iowa. Look at New Hampshire, where the candidates are on the ground making their case as strong as they can. Those poll numbers are very, very different, right? Trump is in, like, the 42% range. And Trump has a floor of maybe 35%. But he also has a ceiling. Ultimately, he probably has a ceiling of somewhere in the high forties because over a third of his supporters have said they would happily go to another candidate. They just need more time to look at them. So that's where Trump's weakness really is. It's not a fait accompli. I know a lot of the -- not you, per se, but a lot in the media are like, "Oh, this is over. This is over." It's really not. Remember -- remember this guy named Barack Obama who they said had no chance against Hillary Clinton and the Clinton machine and all of that back in '08? In about six months things got very, very different. So you have to let the process play out. And -- and I think the key is winnowing down that field. I talk about that a lot. We had 13 candidates a month ago. We have eight or nine today. I think we'll have five or six by the time Iowa comes, maybe three or four by New Hampshire. And then when it's one-on-one Trump's in trouble, and he knows that. And -- and so depending on who that one is, and it still very much remains to be seen, that's where the Republicans have the opportunity to talk about healing America, not just re-litigating Donald Trump's drama.

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Well, look, I -- I understand the politics of the situation, but I think down in -- in Florida, I mean, it didn't sound like there was a lot of animosity between the two.

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I didn't see the former -- current president, Biden, you know, complaining in any great sense. So I don't want to comment on their schedules or whatever that might've been. I think the key is you -- you can't make politics out of a disaster like that. I think Governor DeSantis actually has handled both the previous and current very significant hurricanes very, very well. He's on the ground. It's -- when you have situations like that as a governor it is 24/7. It really is. He was there with the head of FEMA, and -- and -- you know, walking the sites, talking to individuals, working with insurance companies, bringing in the machinery. So, it is really a 24/7 job. And I don't think we can look too much into the politics of that situation.

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No. No, no. I mean, Donald Trump is going to be -- if Donald Trump follows the rules like everybody else and, you know, signs up like everybody else that's the beauty of the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary process. It's a very open, very easy, process for a lot of folks to partake in. And so I see no reason why he wouldn't be on that ballot. I suppose if someone wants to try to litigate it it's not really a New Hampshire issue. They're litigating it against the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and therefore would be applicable to all 50 states. So, no, I fully expect the -- the former president to be on our ballot.

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Well, look, according to the polls you just showed about 70% of America is supportive of that idea to not see Trump and Biden on that ticket. I -- you know, I heard someone put it once, "70% of America, if it's a Trump/Biden ticket, will be politically homeless." And I think that's a very good way to put it. They -- they won't have any inspiration.

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They won't feel very confident about going forward.

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No.

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No, because they're not going to be on the top of that ticket. It's not going to be that way. Look, I -- I -- I think there's a good shot that neither of them are actually on that ballot. I think Trump can very much lose if they winnow it down to one-on-one. I think there's a lot of issues that are going to come to bear with President Biden over the next year and a lot of opportunity for the Democrats to find another -- another candidate. But to the No Labels point, there's an opportunity there like never before. It would have to be the right candidate. It would have to be somebody very energizing and positive, transparent.

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Someone with a good record. No, not that I'm looking at. No, nothing I'm looking at. Look, I'm still working 24/7 to make sure the Republican Party is the best version of itself and that -- that is with yesterday's news of Donald Trump and a conservative that can fulfill on all the policies that Trump brought forward that we agreed with but he just couldn't get done. He didn't get the border done. He didn't get fiscal discipline done. He didn't drain the swamp. Those are great ideas, but let's get a conservative in there that can actually do it.

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No. No, nothing I'm looking at.

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Sorry.

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To be honest, what concerns me more is that if we just fall into -- to having both of them back on the ticket. I mean, I think you're bringing up the exact right point: This is not what America wants. It doesn't mean our primary system is broken. It means more of us have to be engaged in the system to make sure that our voice is heard as that 70% of Americans who always want to look forward. With Biden and Trump you're -- all you're doing is looking backwards and relitigating a lot of drama. Nobody wants that. Everybody wants to move forward in a positive way, have a transparent government, have government and institutions they can trust. We've got amazing institutions in this country, but there's a lack of trust there. So it happens by bringing transparency, removing politics, and just getting back to getting stuff done.

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Impeachment of any president is an unhealthy thing for the country. I mean, that would be a terrible, terrible situation. Now, you have to figure out what happened there. I mean, there's -- there's no doubt that there's a lot of unanswered questions with the Hunter Biden issue. But, no, let's be clear. Impeachment is a terrible thing for America. It -- it -- it brings everybody down. It rocks the system, if you will. Doesn't bring it to its foundations, but it does rock it. And we should -- we need to be more positive going forward, given all the economic crises, that not just that we have today but as bad as it is going to come. Believe me, this economy's getting a lot worse before it's getting better. It's going to get very hard.

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It's about the former president more than anything. And I can tell you, I've had school board members -- Republican school board members that have lost their seats because they felt like they had to constantly answer for being a Trump Republican and all of that. It's a -- it's a negative brand. It puts a lot of hesitation. So it isn't just the federal seats. It's the governorships, the school board, the congressional seats, all of them, especially here in a place like New Hampshire, where, you know, we can kind of go back and forth. We're very independent-minded. The Trump brand just doesn't work. It really doesn't. And so to kind of clear that off the table once and for all is a huge opportunity for Republicans to -- to get back elected officials where the policy matters most, and that's at the local level.

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Thank you, buddy.

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