New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called on Republican candidates to seek out separation from Donald Trump as the former president remains the partys front-runner following the first GOP presidential debate on Wednesday. (You can check out Sununus remarks in the clip below.)
In an interview Friday with The Hill on NewsNation , the Republican governor said candidates did a great job ignoring Trump despite his absence from the debate stage before declaring that theyve go to be able to take it to him.
I dont think they have to go nuclear like Chris [Christie] does ... but everyone in their own way has to find separation with him, Sununu said.
And some of them are doing it; some of them arent. I think Nikki Haley did it pretty well, but thats really the key: Its not just attacking him but then finding out where your candidacy is, assessing it as we go through the fall and saying, Look, when the time to back out is there, youve gotta back out.
In the days before the debate, Sununu urged candidates to break free of Mr. Trumps drama and go on offense.
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The GOP governor, who said in June he had decided against a White House bid , added that Trump would lose in a scenario in which there are fewer candidates.
If the number of candidates challenging Trump winnow down, especially if its one-on-one, he loses. Theres no question. The Republican Party can go forward, Sununu said.
But that was really the opportunity of the debate the other night. For the first time in really six years ... six years since weve seen leadership in the Republican Party without Donald Trump and it looked pretty good. People are very happy with that debate. Theres a lot of energy, a lot of exchange of ideas. It didnt fall flat, he added.
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Trump holds a lead of more than 37 percentage points over the next GOP candidate in an average of national polls, according to FiveThirtyEight .
NewsNations Mike Viqueira later asked the GOP governor, a staunch Trumpcritic , why hes opposed to the former president.
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Im opposed to him because he cant win. I want winners, declared Sununu, who pointed to GOP performance in the 2018 midterms, the 2020 presidential election, and the 2022 midterms.
Him, his message, his candidates all lost, so why would we do this a fourth time and expect a different result? Sununu said. If theres anything Ive learned as a four-term governor, you cannot govern if you dont win in November. And November of 24, hes proven he cant do that.
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