New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) blasted the Republican 2024 presidential candidates for their reaction to the federal indictment of former President Trump, saying they need to be willing to attack him to have a chance to win.
Sununu said in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday that he is surprised the other candidates running for the GOP nomination are not being more “aggressive” in calling out the allegations Trump is facing as a “huge problem.”
“When you’re running in a race, you’re trying to beat the guy ahead of you. You’re trying to knock him down, and given all the things and the rap sheet there that’s a mile long, you’d think that they’d be more aggressive,” he said.
Sununu said he understands they are focusing on certain issues with the Justice Department (DOJ), which he said are “real,” but they need to focus on the facts, with Trump facing a 37-count indictment over his handling of classified and sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago.
“You almost look like you’re defending him at this point,” Sununu said of the other candidates in the race. “That does not look like a serious candidate that’s willing to take him on over the next six months to knock his poll numbers down and shoot you to the top. Either you want to run for president and beat the guy or you don’t.”
Trump’s fellow candidates for the Republican nomination have had a mixed reaction to the news of the wide-ranging indictment against him. Trump has been charged with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act, as well as charges for concealing a document in a federal investigation and making false statements and representations, among others.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has consistently placed second to Trump in GOP primary polls, slammed the DOJ for a “weaponization of law enforcement” while avoiding a direct defense of Trump in the case. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R) also denounced alleged DOJ politicization, while conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy vowed to pardon Trump if elected president.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), who has criticized Trump in the past, reiterated his previous position that Trump should drop out of the race, which he first said after the former president was charged with falsifying business records in Manhattan earlier this year.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), another Trump critic, said the facts from the indictment are “devastating” and that it is filled with evidence of the former president’s wrongdoing.
Sununu had been considering a run for the GOP nomination for president but announced this week that he would not enter the race.
Updated at 10:17 a.m. EDT.