Sununu says he'll support Republican nominee, even if Trump is convicted
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said on Wednesday that he would support the Republican nominee for president in 2024, even if that meant backing former President Trump as a hypothetical convicted felon.
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Sununu defended his position by pointing to voter sentiment on the issue and to what he views as President Biden’s poor performance.
Asked whether he would still support Trump if he’s a convicted felon and also the GOP nominee, Sununu said, “Look, I think, right now, most of America looks like they would, they would vote for him because he's winning — Biden is so bad that Trump is actually beating Biden in most polls. OK? So most of America is right there.”
Sununu, a Trump critic who has endorsed former UN ambassador Nikki Haley in the race for president, reiterated his position when asked whether he, personally, would support Trump.
“Yeah, I'm gonna support the Republican nominee. Absolutely. Yeah, like that shouldn't shock anybody. That shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that the Republican governor and most actually of America is going to end up going against Biden because they need to see a change in this country,” Sununu said.
"I know, again, have the issues around the election changed the dynamics of the Republican primary? No, it's not an issue, right, with the Republican base right now. It's just not. And clearly not one that's holding the American public at large back because, again, you know, Trump is up, you know, 1 point,” Sununu added.
Trump is juggling four criminal indictments. He faces two indictments related to his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election, one federal and one in Georgia.
Referring to Biden, Collins pushed Sununu again, asking, “You’re saying he's that bad of a president that even Trump would win even if Trump is a convicted felon?”
“Yes, the polls say yes,” Sununu responded. “People know that.”
“The four court cases that are out there, we'll see kind of where they are. But right now, they're not playing into whether folks would vote for Trump or not," Sununu said. "Look at the polls. The data is clear. And it's not just one poll. It's poll after poll after poll that shows that Trump would be kind of at least within that margin of error. It would be a nail biter to be sure.”
Polls on the matter have been mixed. While they indicate the Republican Party is growing increasingly less likely to blame Trump for the events surrounding Jan. 6 and more likely to agree with Trump’s claim that his political opponents are weaponized against him, some polls suggest a conviction would make a difference.
Last month, a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump with a commanding lead in the GOP party, but suggested a “not-insignificant minority” of his supporters could change their minds if he’s convicted in any of the four cases, even after hypothetically winning the primary.
Twenty percent of Trump supporters in the December poll said Trump should go to prison if he’s convicted in the federal case related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. That poll showed an increase in the number of his supporters who say Trump has committed “serious federal crimes” — 23 percent of Trump backers said so in December, up from 11 percent in July.
An earlier poll in swing states showed about 6 percent of Trump supporters would change their votes to support President Biden if Trump were convicted, which The Times described as “potentially enough to swing the election.”