New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, a moderate whose term ends this month, dismissed concerns about President-elect Trump's second run in the White House, saying there is room within the Republican Party to criticize the leader if necessary. He suggested that there was more.
“It's never easy to criticize the president or the standard-bearer of your party. There's always that political honeymoon period when you're first elected,” Sununu told Politico in his exit interview. “But there are already signs of people being willing to push back, criticize, and say no when they feel they have to say no.
“And that should give Americans a huge sigh of relief that it's not the evil dictatorship that the liberal media has been telling us about,” he added.
The governor pointed to the short-lived nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to become U.S. attorney general, which quickly became President Trump's most controversial Cabinet nomination. Gates, who was previously investigated by the Justice Department as part of a sex-trafficking investigation and also by the House Ethics Committee, is unable to secure support from a simple majority of senators to be confirmed. When it became clear, he stepped aside.
Sununu took office in 2017 and after serving four consecutive two-year terms, he announced that he would not seek a fifth term in 2023. Former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte was chosen as his successor.
Sununu told Politico that he has no plans to run for the Senate or the White House at this time and plans to return to the private sector.
In an interview with Politico, the New Hampshire Republican also argued that the Republican Party is bigger than both Trump and the movement he promoted within the party. Still, the governor said the president-elect is “very unique.”
Sununu supported former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley's candidacy in the 2024 presidential primary, then suspended her campaign and endorsed Trump at the time.
“For better or worse, there is no 'Trumplite' or 'Trump 2.0' that can replace or replicate what he brought to the table,” Sununu said.
