Sununu makes rare admission of pro-choice stance while ripping abortion pill chaos

Emily Jacobs

April 15, 10:19 PM April 15, 10:29 PM

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu acknowledged his pro-choice position over the weekend while reiterating his concern that "hardline" stances from fellow Republicans will hurt the party's ability to reach new voters.

Sununu, a Republican, made the comments Saturday while discussing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, facing protests while visiting New Hampshire Friday night after signing a six week abortion ban into law. The New Hampshire governor said he believed that some of his GOP colleagues taking extreme positions, and at times implementing them, was harming the party's electorally.

REPUBLICANS STUMBLE THROUGH DICEY WEEK OF ABORTION POLITICS

"My issue is I think it's a terrible message for for the Republican primary, I really do, I think it hurts us in the general election," Sununu said. "I think there are much more pressing issues, if you will, that are facing Americans like inflation, like fiscal responsibility, like border security. All of these are really the issues that have to be answered, that have to be provided solutions to."

The governor said the electorate was on his side on this issue. He argued that Republicans who pushed federal abortion bans ahead of the 2022 midterm elections alienated disaffected Democrats and independents who may have otherwise considered voting for GOP candidates.

The governor was referencing Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposing a national 15-week abortion ban just before last November. He called proposing such restrictions ahead of an election, "the dumbest thing you could possibly do."

Many political observers and pollsters have argued that the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade last year was one of two primary causes for Republican's lackluster midterm showing. Former President Donald Trump's oft controversial primary picks failing to gain traction in the general election was also blamed for the party's much-anticipated red wave turning out to be a ripple.

The Wisconsin state Supreme Court race earlier this month, where the winning liberal candidate centered her candidacy on abortion access, furthered those concerns.

A U.S. District Court judge out of Texas ruled last week that the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, one part of a two-drug regimen to induce an abortion, should be suspended. The ruling was at odds with a similar one out of Washington state. By Friday, the Supreme Court stepped in with a stay on order, setting the stage for a high court ruling on the matter.

Asked if he thought a Supreme Court ruling to uphold the mifepristone ban would hurt the GOP further with independent voters, Sununu answered affirmatively.

"Yes, yeah absolutely. Look, [mifepristone has] been around for 20 years. The issue isn't so much about whether it gets banned or not. I mean, I'm pro-choice, I think it should be legal, that's fine. But it's all about these massive changes in precedent, right?" he said. "Roe v. Wade, whether you agreed with or not, there was a 50 year precedent there. There's a 20 year precedent with [mifepristone]. So now to the American public it looks like Republicans are coming in and trying to massively change and blow up the system."

Sununu said that while abortion was not "a non-issue," he believed some Republicans taking severe positions on the matter was turning away independents and "the younger generation of Republicans" which he said the party needs "to stop being so disenfranchised" so they "come back on the team."

"I just think the messaging as a whole is not where it needs to be," he continued, noting that "it'll be interesting to see" how 2024 Republican presidential candidates navigate the issue. "Ether way, I don't think it's anything that helps us in the long term. I just want to win in '24."

2024 GOP presidential hopefuls head to Indianapolis for NRA convention

Mabinty Quarshie

April 14, 10:42 AM April 14, 10:42 AM

Multiple Republican presidential contenders will descend on Indianapolis, Indiana, to speak at the National Rifle Association's annual convention on Friday, a testament to the power Second Amendment activists still have on the GOP.

Former President Donald Trump will speak to the activists in person, his first public appearance after he was arraigned in a Manhattan court last week after being indicted on charges of a 2016 hush money payment to a porn star. Former Vice President Mike Pence will also attend in person. This will likely be the first time the two are in the same room after leaving the White House weeks after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

DESANTIS AND TRUMP TO SPEAK AT NRA CONFERENCE

While Trump has already declared a presidential run, Pence has not, but he could jump into the 2024 race in the next few months. Trump and Pence are both set to speak Friday afternoon during the event's "Leadership Forum."

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, also running for president, will speak to the attendees via video, as will Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), both potential 2024 candidates. Scott announced a 2024 exploratory committee this week, while DeSantis continues to poll higher than all other 2024 contenders except for Trump. DeSantis, though, has not yet announced a presidential bid.

Other attendees with 2024 aspirations include former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), and Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH).

The NRA convention's three-day Leadership Forum lasts from April 14 through April 16 and is being held just days after a mass shooting left five people dead and eight injured in Louisville, Kentucky, and mere weeks after another mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, at Covenant School, a private Christian institution, left six people dead.

As the nation's most influential gun rights group, the NRA still holds considerable sway over the Republican Party. The NRA endorsed Trump during his first presidential run in 2016 and spent more than $54 million supporting Republicans in 2016, according to the watchdog group Open Secrets.

But in recent years, the NRA has been referenced in national conversations about mass shootings. The group's convention last year was held in the aftermath of the Uvalde school shooting in Texas, where a gunman killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers.

Following the NRA convention, several of the high-profile attendees, including Trump, will head to Nashville for the Republican National Committee’s donor retreat.

One matter uniting Trump and DeSantis but dividing the party

Emily Jacobs

March 10, 08:54 AM March 10, 08:54 AM

Leading establishment Republicans have begun taking aim at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as a partywide fight emerges over who is the best alternative 2024 candidate to former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis, the only GOP name that comes anywhere close to the former president in primary polls, has largely avoided scrutiny from fellow Republicans since emerging as the leading Trump alternative. However, as his star grows with the party's right flank, the Florida governor is taking heat from top establishment 2024 hopefuls for his position on a top foreign policy matter: the war in Ukraine.

DESANTIS INCHES CLOSER TO 2024 LAUNCH WITH TRIP TO IOWA

Speaking to Politico at a private donor retreat organized by Karl Rove and the Texas Voter Engagement Project in Austin, Texas, late last month, former Vice President Mike Pence, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), and former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) painted DeSantis as the wrong man to rescue the party from Trump.

“The Bible says if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will know to get ready for battle,” Pence told the outlet of DeSantis's Ukraine posture. “To me, it’s a function of leadership.”

"We’ve got to speak plainly to the American people about the threats that we face,” the former vice president said while calling for “strong American leadership on the world stage.”

Explaining how he had "no illusions about [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Pence added, “Russia is on the move, when authoritarian regimes like China are threatening their neighbors, we need to meet that moment with American strength.”

Christie, who made a career off his rhetorical candidness, told donors while speaking at the conference to "stop whispering" about their unease with Trump and warned that the safer course was not to "just nominate Trump Lite."

“If we continue down this road, it’s a road that will lead us to another four years of Joe Biden,” Christie said, making reference to Trump’s prediction that his win would cause Republicans to grow tired of winning while lamenting the party's “losing and losing and losing and losing.”

Taking aim at DeSantis specifically, Christie called the Florida governor's recent comments about sliding into a proxy war with China "one of the most naive things I’ve ever heard in my life," as the United States is already locked in such a conflict.

"Don’t be fooled by false choices” being pushed by “a fellow governor,” Christie added while lamenting DeSantis's argument that Biden is too focused on Ukraine at the expense of the U.S.-Mexico border, prompting the former New Jersey governor to wonder how "they teach foreign policy in Tallahassee."

“I’m absolutely shocked when I hear Republicans talk about not defending Ukraine and not ensuring America is strong across the planet,” Sununu told the outlet after his own address to donors.

Mentioning DeSantis by name before backtracking, Sununu said, "Stop trying to have it, not just to Ron, but to anybody: You can’t have it both ways.”

Sununu went on to bemoan Republicans “who want to outdo the Democrats at their own game of big government solutions” and said, “You have to be willing to have the fight, but you can’t only be about the fight.”

Gov. Chris Sununu: Trump is 'not going to be the nominee' in 2024

Rachel Schilke

March 05, 06:24 PM March 05, 06:24 PM

New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu does not believe former President Donald Trump will secure the GOP nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

Trump is "in the race. He's not going to be the nominee, that's just not going to happen," Sununu said in a Sunday interview with NBC's Meet the Press.

CHRIS SUNUNU PREDICTS RON DESANTIS WOULD WIN NEW HAMPSHIRE IF PRIMARY HELD TODAY

"There’s very few people that are on the fence, whether they’re with him or not with him or whatever it might be," Sununu said. "So, I think he just has his lane and then there’s everyone else, which is I think a vast majority of the party that’s looking for an alternative."

Sununu believes that alternative could be Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not yet launched a bid for the White House. If the New Hampshire GOP primary were held today, Sununu said, DeSantis would win there and in Florida, as well.

"Thank you for your service. We’re moving on," Sununu said of Trump. "I just don’t believe the Republican Party is gonna say that the best leadership for America tomorrow is yesterday’s leadership."

The New Hampshire governor is considering a 2024 run himself, previously saying he wants to see the Republican Party head back to its core values and turn away from the extremism of Trump.

However, he said he has committed to supporting the eventual GOP nominee.

"I’m really focused on how do we win no matter who the candidate is," Sununu said. "How do we win in November of ‘24. We have to attract independents. We have to bring that next generation of voter more on the team."

Don Bolduc clinches Republican nomination in New Hampshire Senate primary

Kate Scanlon

September 14, 08:04 AM September 14, 08:21 AM

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc won the Republican nomination to compete from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) in November.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated New Hampshire's common election as “leans Democrat,” that means Bolduc will have a hard time unseating Hassan. Shops termed the race on Wednesday morning for Bolduc, who led point out Senate President Chuck Morse 37% to 36%, with 82% of votes counted.

DEMOCRATS Courtroom REPUBLICANS ON Same-Intercourse Relationship Bill WITH Religious LIBERTY PROTECTIONS

Morse issued a assertion overnight conceding the race.

"It is been a very long evening & we have arrive up small. I want to thank my supporters for all the blood, sweat & tears they poured into this team work," he tweeted. "I just named and wished all the most effective to @GenDonBolduc. The target this slide wants to be on defeating Maggie Hassan."

A lot of Republicans dread Bolduc, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2020, will complicate the party's attempts to defeat Hassan with his significantly-ideal system in a purple point out.

In the closing weeks of the key, the Republican institution rallied all around Morse as an substitute immediately after a Democratic political action committee commenced boosting Bolduc, betting that he would be easier for Hassan to conquer in November. White Mountain PAC, a team aligned with Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell (R-KY), used millions in assist of Morse.

Gov. Chris Sununu, who let down Republicans in the Beltway when he declined to enter the Senate race himself, endorsed Morse shortly before the contest.

The major also included businessman Vikram Mansharamani, former Londonderry City Supervisor Kevin Smith, and Libertarian Bruce Fenton.

If Republicans were being to defeat Hassan, it would mark a major and mostly unanticipated obtain for the GOP as the parties every single find to win a vast majority in the higher chamber. The evenly divided Senate is controlled by Democrats with Vice President Kamala Harris's tiebreaking vote in her potential as president of the Senate.