New Hampshire GOP Governor Chris Sununu appreciates former President Donald Trump about the same way he appreciates a case of ringworm. Which is to say he doesn’t appreciate Trump at all. He sat down for a Politico live event on Thursday to make the case that the GOP should forget about Trump and instead nominate Nikki Haley to be the Republican choice for President.
Sununu has to be one of Trump’s harshest critics, but despite his dislike of Trump, he’s said he’ll support the ex-president if he has to. Kind of in the same way that a person may have to hold their nose while they eat something to keep from gagging. The sad fact is, right now, it’s almost 100 percent certain Trump will be the Republican nominee. Haley is hoping (perhaps against hope) for a strong showing in Saturday’s primary in South Carolina, the state where she was governor for eight years, according to Mediaite.
I don’t know what this says about Haley, but Trump is clobbering her in the polls there.
But as He’he was being interviewed Thursday, Sununu completely waived away the idea that democracy in the U.S. is in danger. As we know lots of Democrats, not to mention many members of John Q. Public (myself included) have voiced plenty of concerns after Trump tried to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. For many of us, the memory of January 6, 2021, is forever burned into our brains.
So I don’t know what I think about Sununu’s optimism. Because I believe Trump is a real danger to the U.S. He’s already stated quite plainly that he’ll be a “day one dictator” on his first day in office.
I’m glad that Sununu feels confident about this but I have my doubts. He also added that the GOP “won’t be [Trump’s] party forever.”
“if you’re one of these people who thinks democracy is getting eroded and the institutions are crumbling. stop. it’s not. this country has gone through hell and back a lot. we had—let’s go all the way back to the civil war where we were getting completely torn apart. our institutions stood strong.
“we go through world war I and world war II. We go through racism and segregation of the 60s. you go through a place like 1968, where some of america’s great voices are literally getting assassinated in front of us on television. And people said, ‘it’s over, america’s done.but we stood, the institutions stood strong. we rallied back. we went through 911. we went through a pandemic. the institutions stood strong.”
“Let me put it a different way,” Sununu said. “assholes come and go but america is here to stay.”
But you see, January 6 hangs brightly in the mind because Trump was so selfish, and so short-sighted as to get a dangerous crowd of people, many armed with weapons like flagpoles, a gun here and there, and at least one axe, so riled up that they marched from the ellipse, where Trump held the Stop The Steal rally, to the U.S. Capitol building, where they rained hell on police officers, and four members of the mob died. In the days and weeks after the riot, at least five police officers who were on duty that day at the Capitol also died, The New York Times reports.
Let’s also remember that Trump tried to convince Mike Pence not to certify the results in Congress since he’s the presiding officer. For perhaps the only time in his life, Pence had the gumption to say no and that really triggered Trump supporters. Enough so that some constructed a gallows and we heard calls of “Hang Mike Pence!”
So I’m glad Sununu is confident, but I’m not sure that I am. Hopefully, all the felonies Trump is charged with will bear fruit and he’ll be in prison. But if he’s still in the running for President, in my mind he’s still dangerous.
Even though I have my qualms about President Joe Biden, I’m hoping he, or whomever the Democrats choose for their nominee will prevail. This is a good hope and I plan to keep this mindset all the way along.
If you’re interested in watching the interview, you can see it here.
