Posted on 09/27/2016 1:31:30 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
MANCHESTER, N.H. —The morning after the first general election debate of the 2016 campaign, former Gov. John H. Sununu on Tuesday came full circle, formally endorsing Donald Trump for president.
Sununu, who is also a former White House Chief of Staff and former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman, was among Trump’s harshest critics during the first-in-the-nation presidential primary campaign.
But in a statement released by the Trump campaign, Sununu said: “Donald Trump is the only candidate in this race who can bring bold change to Washington, D.C. I support the Trump-Pence ticket for their pro-growth agenda and commitment to protecting American interests. Republicans, independents and smart Democrats need to come together to elect Donald Trump and Mike Pence.”
Sununu warned on Bloomberg News in January that if Trump became the GOP presidential nominee, “We lose the Senate, and up here in New Hampshire, if Donald Trump is the nominee, we will not get a Republican governor, we will lose the New Hampshire State Senate and we could lose the New Hampshire state House.”
The former governor did not endorse a candidate in the presidential primary, citing the gubernatorial candidacy of his son, Chris.
Also in January, the elder Sununu penned an opinion piece in the New Hampshire Union Leader warning, “Don’t drink the Trump Kool-Aid.” In it, he called Trump “an opportunist” with no ideology who has flip-flopped on numerous issues.
That opinion piece prompted a bitter exchange through the media between Trump and Sununu the next time Trump campaigned in the state.
“I don’t even know the guy,” Trump said at a rally in Windham on Jan. 11. “He was fired by Bush,” a reference to Sununu leaving as White House Chief of Staff under President George H.W. Bush.
He was fired like a dog, he was fired viciously,” Trump said at the time, going on to call the former three-term governor “dumb.”
“The thin skin that (Trump) showed by doing that is another reason he should not be Commander-in-Chief,” Sununu responded, also citing Trump’s four corporate bankruptcies.
“His lenders said, ‘You’re fired.’ They fired him like a beggar,” Sununu told WMUR’s Adam Sexton.
Following Trump’s win in the New Hampshire primary, Sununu joined an anti-Trump political action committee, Our Principles PAC. But in March, while still not endorsing Trump, he told WMUR.com that he will support the nominee of the party.
In an interview on Tuesday following the endorsement announcement, Sununu noted that since Trump secured the presidential nomination, “I have been saying that I had made a commitment to vote for the Republican nominee. I have been on the public record saying that.”
“I obviously have been watching the Trump and Clinton campaigns,” he said, “and I felt that at this point, I was comfortable not only voting for Trump but also in urging others to vote for him as well.”
Never a fan of Hillary Clinton, Sununu said he is more uncomfortable with her than ever, “and she has convinced me that she cannot be president. And the second biggest thing that gave me confidence to do what I did was his selection of Mike Pence as the vice presidential nominee. He was exactly the right person.”
Sununu said he is no longer convinced that Trump will be a drag on the rest of the New Hampshire GOP ticket.
“To assess whether (Trump) will be a plus or a minus, you have to start looking at the polls, which seem to be getting closer in New Hampshire,” the former governor said. “The minute he crosses over and is ahead of Mrs. Clinton, he will be helping the ticket.”
Sununu said that he was trying to re-arrange his schedule in order to attend a Trump rally slated for Thursday in Bedford.
WMUR.com asked Sununu for his reaction to the Monday night debate.
“In my opinion, right now the target for what Trump has to do in the next couple of week is to try to convince the 8 to 10 percent who say they are going to vote Libertarian to come back to the party,” Sununu said. “He must also create an attraction for those Republicans who are barely supporting him and are extremely uncomfortable with him.”
Sununu said Trump was successful in the debate.
“He stood up with Mrs. Clinton,” he said. “And although you can argue that he could have handled a couple of questions better, on the most important issues of jobs and the economy, I thought he did extremely well. That should make the Libertarians and those Republicans who are barely supporting him more comfortable.”
State Rep. Steve Stepanek, a Trump New Hampshire campaign co-chair, noted that Sununu is a key player in GOP politics in New Hampshire and nationally.
He said that Sununu worked with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to line up pre-debate endorsements of Trump by about 50 alumni of the President George W. Bush administration.
Stepanek said that he has been speaking with Sununu since the Republican National Convention in July about the possibility of an endorsement.
Noting that former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith, a former Ted Cruz supporter, attended a Monday event in Milford featuring vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, Stepanek said, "All facets of the Republican Party are coalescing very strongly behind Donald Trump."
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who has said she will vote for Trump but has not endorsed him, had a brief answer when asked for her reaction to the debate.
"I think he did fine, and I look forward to watching the next debate," she said in an email to WMUR.com.
Maybe they’re privy to internals in N.H. polls . Get aboard the Trump train or find a new vocation.
Hell no to Gary. He takes votes from the Butcheress of Benghazi.
Thats how I read it too but I will know more when I talk to family about NH later this week.
If Trump was 20 points behind Cruz and the gang would never endorse.
Sununu - the go-to generic elite republican RINO loved by the MSM when he bashes Trump. Who cares what he says or thinks? Anyway, I thought he was dead.
We can hope.
Trump has enormous personal persuasive skills.
We want every vote we can get. We want a landslide.
Nice to have Sununu on board...
Sununu said. “He must also create an attraction for those Republicans who are barely supporting him and are extremely uncomfortable with him.”
..............
What kind of attraction do you want, Sununu?
Casino? Appointments? TV time?
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