Fox News host Neil Cavuto repeatedly interrupted Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to ask whether he would support former President Donald Trump if Trump became the 2024 Republican nominee.
Sununu, an opponent of Trump, told Cavuto on Tuesday he will not endorse the former president during the 2024 primary race despite Trump being the current frontrunner. The New Hampshire governor, who opted not to run in the race Monday, said it is too early to officially name Trump as the frontrunner for the party’s nomination.
“You just said, but governor, you just said that you opted not to run because, right now, Donald Trump is so far ahead in the polls. I don’t know whether that was one of the reasons you opted not to run, but right now he is very far ahead of the polls — so if he were to win, would you support him, or would you go in, right before New Hampshire and say ‘The former president, included, is among the people I would consider to endorse?'” Cavuto asked.
“No, I will not endorse former President Trump during the Republican primary process,” the New Hampshire governor said. “Look, that guy is all about litigating yesterday. He’s not delivering what’s – about tomorrow night. And I get it, he’s playing this victim card. But you don’t elect someone president, or to be your nominee, to play the victim card. If he can win in November of [20]24, different prospect. But the fact of the matter, Trump wouldn’t even win Georgia, and if you’re a Republican candidate that can’t even win Georgia, and would actually cost us other seats, then no, we have to take a hard pass at that.”
Sununu said Trump’s nomination will effectively hand Vice President Kamala Harris the presidency. Cavuto then pushed back, saying there is no proof Harris will be the president given Trump’s current lead in some polls against Biden. (RELATED: Chris Sununu Pushes Back Against Sunny Hostin On Gun Laws)
“You don’t know that, right? I mean, seriously, you don’t,” Cavuto interrupted. “He’s [Trump] is up in the polls a lot, and you’re quite right, there is a risk that he could get the nomination, lose the general election, but I remember back in 2015, [20]16 around this time, most people thought Jeb Bush would be running away with it. We know what happened. So are you misreading these polls?”
“No, no, no, no, there’s no way Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden in November,” Sununu said. “That was proven in 2018 when we lost the House, that was proven in 2020 when we lost everything, that was proven in ’22, when we should’ve had 53 or 53 U.S. Senate seats, and we lost those — we lost governorships because of President Trump and his message. It doesn’t carry. He’s a three-time loser going on to carry this party to a fourth-time loss. We cannot have that. Thank you for your service, this is not personal. This is just about winning. We cannot govern, we cannot get this country back, unless we have winners up and down the ticket.”
“But what you do, governor, if he is the nominee? Who do you vote for given the choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, if that were the final, what would you do?” Cavuto pressed.
The New Hampshire governor said he will focus his efforts on making sure the Republican Party does not lose Senate seats and governorships if Trump is the nominee. He argued Trump did not accomplish border security or lowering the deficit during his presidency, which he said should be priorities for Republican candidates.
Sununu also said former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who filed to run for president Tuesday, will not effectively defeat Trump in the race. He argued Republicans’ key to winning is to attack Trump over his failures and defeat Biden in the general election.