'I don't want losers': GOP gov fears Trump nomination will doom party's down-ballot races
Although New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu — who is supporting Nikki Haley for president — isn't a full-fledged Never Trump conservative, the Republican governor has been highly critical of 2024 GOP frontrunner at times.
Sununu, at the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, remarked, "Trump's too dumb to be a danger to democracy. Let's not give him that much credit." And Sununu believes that Haley would be much more competitive than Trump in the general election.
During a Monday night appearance on MSNBC, Sununu argued that if Trump is the presidential nominee, he will make it harder for Republican candidates in down-ballot races.
Sununu told MSNBC's Jen Psaki, "No question Trump on the ticket hurts our Senate races, our gubernatorial races. That's why I love Nikki Haley so much, because she doesn't just win, she wins the swing states. She makes it easy to win everything else."
During the interview, the New Hampshire governor refused to rule out supporting Trump if he is the nominee. But Sununu pointed to polls showing Haley very competitive against President Joe Biden in a hypothetical matchup.
Sununu told Psaki — a former press secretary in the Biden Administration — "Again, it would be kind of a nail-biter between Trump and Biden. I don't want nail-biters. I don't want losers. I'm tired of losing races as a Republican. We should have had big wins in '22, you know that? And we didn't, because Trump was still the standard-bearer of the party. He was still putting out his candidates."
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