WASHINGTON (AP) — GOP Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire said Donald Trump is “crazy” and joked that if the former Republican president was admitted to a mental hospital, “he ain't getting out!”
Sununu skewered Trump during the Gridiron Club’s spring dinner Saturday night, an annual Washington gathering featuring skits and speeches from Democrats, Republicans and journalists that are expected to “singe” but “not burn” the capital's political elite.
“He’s (expletive) crazy!” Sununu said in salty remarks that roasted members of both parties as well as the Washington journalists who cover them. The governor added: "The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out!”
Sununu also spoke of being left astonished by an encounter with Trump when the former president was visiting New Hampshire for a political rally.
After greeting Trump at the airport, Sununu said Trump insisted he ride with him to the venue. Sununu said that Trump spent most of the ride obsessing over his polling numbers, but at one point broke his train of thought to point out that all the people holding American flags along the motorcade route were his fans.
Trump pointed to one man with a flag and sign before Trump returned to the topic of polling, Sununu recalled.
“I can’t help but notice the guy he pointed at, the sign he’s holding says, '(expletive, Trump!),” Sununu joked.
In his Gridiron address, Sununu also took aim at Democrats and poked fun at himself.
He said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who is reportedly set to sign a deal soon to join MSNBC, would be smart to get her money upfront considering the network’s ratings.
Sununu noted he was included in a Washington Post list of 10 potential 2024 GOP presidential contenders. He cracked that his vast foreign policy experience included building a short wall with polite signage on New Hampshire’s border with Canada.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who spoke on behalf of Democrats at the dinner, remarked that he had not heard a “Republican use the F-word that much since the Nixon administration.”
“But I’ve got to say that Gov. Sununu's eloquent profanity is the kind of insurrection the GOP needs today," Raskin said.
The sitting president typically attends the event. President Joe Biden, who spent the weekend in his home state of Delaware, skipped but sent a video message. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo delivered remarks on behalf of the administration.
Republicans last year made a pitch to Sununu to challenge incumbent Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan in 2022, but he ultimately declined and opted to run for reelection as governor. The seat is one of several that Republicans are eyeing as they look to win control of the Senate in upcoming midterm elections.
Sununu told the Washington Examiner that after hearing GOP leadership’s plan for the next two years, he decided wasn’t interested in simply being a “roadblock” to Biden’s agenda.
