Gov. Chris Sununu says removing Trump from the ballot lets him play the ‘victim card’

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Sunday criticized efforts to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot, saying disqualifying him would allow him to play the “victim card” heading into the primary.

During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Dana Bash asked Sununu, a Republican, about his reaction to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ recent ruling that Trump is not constitutionally eligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot next year for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Sununu, an outspoken critic of Trump since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, condemned the ruling as political in nature.

“Look, if there was any validity to keeping Trump out of the polls, we would see 48 other states trying to do the same thing,” Sununu said. “Personally, I think this is very politically motivated by the Maine Secretary of State: Trump should be on the ballot. “Everyone understands that.”

“This is a politician who I think has political aspirations in the future and is trying to make a name for herself,” he added. “Everyone is just hoping that… the United States Supreme Court will get involved, overturn what Maine and Colorado are trying to do, make sure Trump is on the ballot in 50 states, and we’ll move on.”

Asked if he agrees with some Republicans, such as GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie, who maintain that removing Trump from the ticket would make him a “martyr,” Sununu responded: “Of course.”

“This would just…increase his opportunity to play that victim card in the future when we get to the primaries,” he added. “It’s not helpful at all and I just don’t think it’s right.”

In a separate interview on CNN, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a former member of the House Jan. 6 committee, also weighed in on the argument that efforts to remove Trump from the ballot would make him a martyr.

“It may or may not be so. The question is what does the Constitution say? “Donald Trump can strike the martyr pose in any context,” he said. “If he is allowed to remain on the ballot despite his clear incitement of an insurrection and attempt to overturn the results in the 2020 election, and loses to Joe Biden, as he almost certainly would, Biden beat him by more than 7 million votes last year. time, and we have millions of new young voters who have joined the lists and cannot stand Donald Trump and the Republican Party.”

“If he loses, he will feel like a martyr there and will try to reverse the electoral result again,” he added. “So I don’t think we can run away scared from Donald Trump.”

The Colorado Supreme Court this month issued a ruling, the first of its kind, in which the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that no one who has “engaged in an insurrection or rebellion” after taking an oath to support and defend the Constitution, can hold office: Bans Trump from holding office again due to his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Trump is expected to appeal the Colorado high court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Courts in Michigan, Arizona and Minnesota have ruled against efforts to exclude Trump from the 2024 ballot in those states.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu speak with members of the press after Sununu’s endorsement of Haley during a town hall event in Manchester, NH, on December 12.Sophie Park/Getty Images

Sununu, who has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, was also asked during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire last week if he made a mistake by refusing to say that slavery was a cause of the Civil War.

Haley said it all came down to the “role of government.” She later appeared to backtrack, saying in a radio interview on “Good Morning New Hampshire” that “of course the Civil War had to do with slavery” and that his comments reflected what “it means to us today.” ”.

“Well, look, she cleared it up quick, right? Obviously, if something needs to be clarified a little bit, you wish you had said it a little differently the first time, but she clarified it quickly,” Sununu said. “It is an absolutely irrelevant matter. “She said, like you said, of course it was slavery.”

“I think he was talking more about the freedoms we want for all Americans and the lessons that come from that going forward. So yeah, I think she missed the obvious,” she added. “And yes, I guess the press and the people wanted to hear her get back to the obvious about slavery. “She cleared it up right away and we all moved on.”

When asked again if Haley’s initial comments were a mistake, Sununu agreed: “I mean, yeah. If you have to clarify an answer, you say, wow, I guess she should have answered differently. Let’s clear it up, so yeah, sure.”

Sununu also weighed in on Christie’s candidacy, whom he said he considers a “friend,” saying the former New Jersey governor’s “career is at a dead end.”

“This is a two-person race, right? It’s between Trump and Nikki Haley. Everyone understands that,” Sununu said, notably leaving out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as well. “He knows that his voters, who want to see Trump defeated, are reaching out to Nikki Haley. In fact, the only person who wants Chris Christie to stay in the race is Donald Trump, right? I mean, think about the irony of that.”

Asked whether Christie should drop out of the race before the primary, Sununu said, “There’s no question that if Christie stays in the race, the risk is that he makes the decision.” [Haley’s] Margin of victory, right?

“That’s why I think Chris is going to do a quick calculation,” he said. “Obviously he’s really angry at all the pro-Trump people, right? I think he’s a smart guy. He wants to have a voice in this party. He doesn’t want to go ahead also upsetting all the anti-Trump people because he overstayed his welcome and put his ego first. So I think in the end he will make the right decision.”