Sununu Says Impending Trump Indictment ‘Drastically’ Changes ‘Paradigm’ for 2024
Republican New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said Sunday that the impending indictment of former president Trump could backfire on Democrats and upset the 2024 political stage.
“I think it’s building a lot of sympathy for the former president,” Sununu, an expected 2024 GOP presidential contender who has not yet declared his bid, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I just think that not just the media, but really, a lot of the Democrats have misplayed this in terms of building sympathy for the former president and it does drastically change the paradigm as we go into the 2024 election.”
Even many moderate Republicans have found progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump’s connection to the scandal invasive and unprecedented, Sununu said. Some conservatives he’s spoken with have worried Trump is being “attacked,” he said.
Former vice president Pence, who has condemned Trump’s narrative of January 6 and the 2020 election, on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday said it appeared to be a “politically charged prosecution.”
Trump said Saturday on social media that he expects to be arrested next week, urging followers to protest in response. Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who allegedly sent the money to porn star Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf, testified to the grand jury Monday.
Sununu suggested that Bragg’s investigation into Trump is odd timing considering the incident happened many years ago. Pence complained that Bragg is wrong to prioritize indicting Trump when crime is still at very high levels in New York City.
“There’s a question about why they’re doing it, something seven years ago. It’s not a nothing, but it’s moving money and how he claimed money being moved between him and his lawyer,” Sununu said.” You know, there are other issues that really take precedence in terms of where this country needs to go, what we need to do to get stuff done, how we manage our budget, how we secure the border.”
As for the 2024 race, which has been heating up with Trump lodging preemptive attacks at Ron DeSantis, Sununu said in early March that the Florida governor would win his home state of New Hampshire if the presidential election were held today. DeSantis is the effective, electorally competitive “alternative” to Trump that the GOP has been seeking to lead the party, he added.
