Katy Tur Grills Sununu for Saying He’d Back Trump as the Nominee: ‘Do You Not Think January 6th Was a Big Deal?’

Tur: “Governor, I will say that you guys in this state have pushed on presidents from New Hampshire in the past. You have Bill Clinton in ’92. McCain was the nominee, wasn’t the president. But you picked the winners of the party, certainly a lot of times, in New Hampshire. The voters in the state like you a lot. You’re a very popular governor here. They listen to you, your influence matters.”
SUNUNU: “Go on. (Laughs)”
Tur: “No, it’s true. It’s true. It’s what I hear from voters. But I want to know, given that and your endorsing Nikki Haley, do you think it was a mistake to come out and say, ‘I’m going to vote for Donald Trump if he’s the nominee, I’m going to vote for him even if he’s convicted in a criminal courtroom?’ Do you think that was a mistake that maybe undermined the enthusiasm for Nikki Haley?”
SUNUNU: “No, no, no. The point there is very clear. If folks think some external factor is going to take Trump down, that court cases are going to come to bear and then he’s really in trouble, that’s not happening, guys. That is a hypothetical. It is not happening. You beat Donald Trump at the ballot box. You beat Donald Trump by getting out the vote. It happens right here in New Hampshire. I want people to know not to sit apathetically waiting for someone else to beat Donald Trump. It has to be about getting behind Nikki Haley and taking that path, and when you have leadership like hers that can win, this is all about charging people up to get out to vote. And yes, Donald Trump would be in a nail-biter race with Joe Biden at this point, to be sure. Nikki Haley would win by 10, 15 points and win Republican seats up and down the ballot. That’s why people get so excited about her here in New Hampshire. It puts the chaos and the drama behind us. But don’t think for a second that something else is going to down — if your viewers are watching and saying, ‘Donald Trump is a threat to democracy,’ then get off the couch and go vote. Be a part of it. Do something about it, whatever it is. Don’t wait for these external things to happen. That’s a hypothetical. So we’re just trying to charge people to make sure that we have as high a voter turnout as we can come Tuesday.”
Tur: “No, a lot of people do think he’s a threat to democracy, and Nikki Haley says chaos follows him, he’s a chaotic president who wasn’t effective. But I wonder, when you say that you’re going to vote for him anyway, are you telling those voters that he’s not a threat to democracy, that it doesn’t matter that much, that chaos following him is fine because ultimately, ‘If he’s the nominee, I’m going to vote for him to be president, it’s totally okay.’ Is that undermining the argument for Nikki Haley?”
SUNUNU: “No, because look, that’s the general election. We’re focused on the primary. The reality is — the general election reality is Joe Biden is that bad of a president, has done that bad of a job that even someone with all the chaos and drama of Donald Trump would actually potentially have a shot. We’re getting behind Nikki Haley because it comes with a mandate, because it comes with leadership, because it comes without, I should say, the chaos, the drama, all the crazy things. It’s putting all of this stuff behind us. No one wants to see Trump-Biden on that ticket. It’s America’s worst nightmare right now. Be a product, if you will, of driving the change by coming out and voting in South Carolina, in New Hampshire ,making this thing happen. It’s so important. I’m just trying to encourage voters, don’t sit back and wait for something to change that process. You have to do it. It’s about the voters. That’s democracy. Get the voters engaged.”
Tur: “Do you not think January 6th was a big deal?”
SUNUNU: “Well, of course it was. No, absolutely, of course it was. The election denial on January 6th — but understand something. When it comes to the Republican primary, those issues do not really come to bear in the Republican primary for the voters. They just don’t. They’re way down on the list of priority. People want to know the border is going to be secured. They want to know that inflation is going to be taken care of. They want to know there’s going to be fiscal responsibility and they’re going to treat their tax dollars with respect, which nobody in Washington has done for a long time. Those are the issues driving it. January 6th and election denial are not key issues on the Republican voters’ minds right now.”
Tur: “Yeah, all those things are a big deal and I won’t argue that. I think voters are feeling it up and down this country, Republicans, Democrats, independents, everybody. And people are worried about it, but how can you fix those things if you end up getting a president who then just refuses to leave office? And I think that going back to January 6th, which I know that you were not happy with, are you sure that if Donald Trump was elected again, that he would leave at the end of his four years? Are you sure?”
SUNUNU: “Yeah, look, you’re asking a lot about the guy that I’m making sure is going to lose. You’re asking a lot about Donald Trump. Nobody cares about Donald Trump right now. We’re all focused on Nikki Haley. This is how you get rid of Donald Trump. This is how you put, frankly, the line of questioning and all this chaos and the drama behind us, and we talk about real things that drive the country forward, not re-litigating the past. This has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the opportunity to show that he’s weak, he’s not willing — he’s a coward, he’s not willing to stand on the debate stage with Nikki Haley. He doesn’t understand these issues. He made a lot of promises to the Republican base that he never fulfilled on, whether it being securing the border, building a wall, fiscal responsibility, healthcare reform. We voted for him because we wanted all of this stuff. We got None of it as Republicans, None of it. Social Security, about to go bankrupt. People are going to lose benefits and he’s guaranteeing he won’t touch it. That’s a scary thing. People are coming out for Nikki Haley because she has a plan to fix it without removing anybody’s benefits. That’s opportunity there.”
Tur: “I ask it to clarify your support for Nikki Haley and I appreciate that you’ve done so. Governor Sununu, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your time.”
SUNUNU: “You bet. Thank you.”