Meet the Press - January 21, 2024 Steve Kornacki, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.), Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Chuck Todd, Dasha Burns, Jonathan Martin, Lanhee Chen, and Jen Psaki

Press Release

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You bet. Thanks for having me on.

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It's exciting.

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There's energy, there's momentum. It's crazy.

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Sure.

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It would be great. But no, I think she still can win. There's no doubt about it. But everything Nikki's trying to do is build on the momentum from Iowa, 2% to 20%, build on even more momentum here. The fact that she's knocked all the other candidates out, nobody thought that was possible. But she's really knocked everybody out, even Ron. I mean, he's in it, but he's not really in it. It's a Haley-Trump race. I've always said you wanted a one-on-one race going into Super Tuesday. I think Super Tuesday's probably where you actually have to – have to start winning states. But as long as the momentum keeps building into her home state, that's an amazing opportunity to turn this thing around.

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No. No. She doesn't have to win. I mean, look, nobody goes from single digits in December to "you absolutely have to win" in January. I think that's a media expectation that's being set out there. The fact that it can happen at all, right? Trump said he was going to run the table and win all 50 states. And everyone said, "Yep, it's a – it's a done deal." It's not a done deal. She's challenging him here, and now she, again, gets to go to her home state where she's won a lot before, she knows how to do it on the ground. And people don't realize that South Carolina isn't next week. It's three or four weeks, you know away, and Nikki's going to have a lot of time to build on the momentum she's already created.

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Of course. Tim Scott doesn't matter. Look, endorsements from the U.S. –

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Of course. Because Trump had a 35 point lead here, then that's completely shrunk. I mean, there were polls two weeks ago that had almost neck-and-neck. So you don't really know what's – what's going to happen. New Hampshire always looks forward. We always want the next generation of leadership. We always want the next big idea. So we're not Iowa, right? Iowa had, what, 56,000 people voted for Trump? 56,000 people out of over three million, that's going to dictate the Republican choice for president? I don't think so. You got to let this thing play out.

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Yes, look, that's – that's a month away. I'm, to be honest, not even looking at that. Right now I'm looking at the next 72 hours. We're going like gangbusters. She's crisscrossing the state, she's hitting every voter, she's going everywhere, she's talking to everybody, and no one else is doing that. She's the only one really campaigning the right way here. You know, Trump flies in, he does his – well it wasn't even that big of a rally. The guy had to curtain off half of the stadium so it didn't look empty, and then flies out of here. So she's just doing it a fundamentally different way.

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I think after every state you look at your campaign, obviously. But that's a month away. I mean, it's really a month away. Nothing – everyone's focused on trying to get out the vote. And if we can get the vote out, as I said in those clips, the more people that vote, the better chance she has of winning. And they're already predicting a record turnout here.

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Setting that aside.

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Look, whether it’s Joe Biden or Donald Trump, either one – either one, get off the teleprompter, they can barely make a cogent point. I mean, really –

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Not in that moment, he sure as heck wasn't. I mean, look, the point is you have two nearly 80-year-olds fighting this thing out. That's not what America wants. That is a great example of, this is not Donald Trump, the disruptor of 2016. This guy has lost his fastball. You know, that's a great example of it. We always want to go forward in America, right? We always want that next generation. Neither of these guys represent the next generation.

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Of course not. The amazing thing about that clip is he was dead serious. He wasn't even making one of his ridiculous jokes. He was dead serious about that. And that should give everybody – I don't care what political party you're from, whether you're an extreme conservative or a socialist liberal – everybody should be concerned with that type of mentality going into the White House.

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Look, at the end of the day, I think most Republicans are going to get behind the Republican nominee. I'm hoping that it's obviously Nikki Haley. This is how bad Joe Biden is. Six months ago Trump couldn't beat Biden. This is how bad Joe Biden is. Inflation is crushing middle and low income families across the country. We're – we’re weak on the international stage. We haven't secured our border. Even Democrats have agreed that – that he's been completely incompetent and not on the ball there, so to say. So this is where we've come, where Joe Biden is so bad that even folks would get behind Donald Trump.

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We're – we’re here in New Hampshire in the first nation primary. No one's really thinking about the general election right now. If you want to beat Donald Trump, it has to happen at the ballot box. Don't sit on your couch, don't wait for it to happen. Don't wait for some external factor or court case to take over. You have to get out and vote, whether you're undeclared, Republican. Getting that vote out is how you beat it. That's democracy.

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Well, according to the polls, most of America would. This is how – I mean, this is what you guys don't report on. This is how bad Biden has been. This is how incompetent he's been. The guy can barely get off the stage. Nobody wants what – what is currently, and everybody is scared of a President Kamala Harris.

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My sense is, if – if – if he were in – in –in there in a second term, you know, not a whole lot is going to happen. Because nobody's going to be willing to work with him –

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I would hope so.

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I would say that about any president. I would hope so. I'd hope Joe Biden would, I would hope any of them would. Yes.

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I am. I think the weather's going to be pretty good. We'll get a little flurries. It doesn't really push us back there, 38°. But as I said in those quotes, I really believe it: the more that come out, the better chance we have of beating him at the ballot box. And that's the only way to do it. The voters decide who's going to be the nominee. Not the media, not Chris Sununu, not even Nikki Haley. It's the voters, and that's the best process.

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You bet.

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Thank you.

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