New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) went after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) during a recent appearance on Newsmax, saying “nobody cares what Rand Paul thinks” after the senator targeted Nikki Haley’s campaign Friday morning.
Sununu, who endorsed Haley in the GOP primary back in December, was asked during his Friday appearance on Newsmax about Paul’s newly forged anti-endorsement of Haley. The libertarian-leaning senator said Haley is the “only” candidate he would not be comfortable with as the GOP nominee.
“What does this mean for her campaign?” the hosts asked Sununu.
“What does Rand Paul mean? Nothing,” Sununu said in response. “I’m sorry, but nobody cares what Rand Paul thinks in this race. This race is in Iowa and New Hampshire; it’s in South Carolina. She’s the only candidate that’s surging.”
Sununu reiterated his response later in the interview, doubling down on his diss of Paul.
“Maybe when the U.S. Senate actually starts doing something and actually starts delivering some results, they can stand on a soapbox and think that their words matter,” Sununu said. “But until then, sorry, Rand Paul. Nobody cares.”
Sununu’s reactions came after the Kentucky senator disparaged Haley’s foreign policy stance and said that she’s from the “Dick Cheney, John McCain wing of the party.”
The senator even launched a website dubbed “Never Nikki” where he shared that he does not have a clear choice of who to endorse in the primary, “but I do know one thing: count me in as Never Nikki.”
Paul, who ran for president in 2016, did not rule out the possibility of campaigning against Haley, whose poll numbers have been surging in the New Hampshire, partially fueled by Sununu’s endorsement.
During the interview, Sununu also downplayed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s chances in the primary, saying they’ve “made it effectively a one-on-one race at this point between Nikki and Donald Trump.”