New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a moderate Republican whose term ends this month, waved off concerns about President-elect Trump's second bout in the White House, suggesting there is still room within the Republican Party to criticize its leader when warranted.
"Look, it’s never easy criticizing the president and the standard bearer of your party, and there’s always that kind of political honeymoon period that happens when you first get elected," Sununu told Politico in an exit interview. "But there are already signs of folks that are willing to push back and criticize and say no when they feel like they have to say no.
"And that should give the American people a big sigh of relief that it’s not the evil dictatorship that the liberal media was telling us it was going to be," he added.
The governor pointed to former Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) short-lived nomination for U.S. attorney general, which quickly became Trump's most controversial Cabinet pick. Gaetz, who was investigated by the Justice Department as part of a sex trafficking probe and faced similar inquiries from the House Ethics Committee, stepped aside when it became clear he could not secure support from a simple majority of senators to be confirmed.
Sununu assumed office in 2017, serving four consecutive two-year terms before announcing in 2023 he would not seek a fifth. Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, was elected as his successor.
Sununu told Politico he is not planning a Senate or White House bid and instead intends to return to the private sector.
In the interview with Politico, the New Hampshire Republican also argued that the Republican Party is bigger than both Trump and the movement he spurred within its ranks. Still, the president-elect is "extremely unique," the governor said.
Sununu endorsed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential primary bid before she suspended her campaign, at which point he threw his support behind Trump.
“There’s no ‘Trump lite’ or ‘Trump 2.0’ that can replace or replicate what he’s brought to the table, for better or for worse,” Sununu said.
