New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu stunned a CNN host by saying he didn’t think either Donald Trump or Joe Biden would be in the general election in November. To which, host Poppy Harlow could just say, “Wow, wow!”
It’s more surprising to say Biden won’t run, since he has zero opposition, at this point. But Breitbart explains:
Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH) said Thursday on “CNN This Morning” that former President Donald Trump will not be the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee and President Joe Biden will not ultimately be the Democratic nominee.
Sununu said, “I’m going to tell you, I don’t think Joe Biden is the nominee in ’24.”
Co-host Poppy Harlow said, “You don’t? Who?”
Sununu said, “No, I don’t. I think he’s going to go through the primary process. I think he collects all the delegates, and I think you’re going to see a wild convention where he and his people start steering the delegates somewhere else. I really believe that sincerely.”
It actually makes sense, if you think about it. No president wants to be “primaried,” and if they are, the party loses. If Biden breezes through the primaries, there’s no discord, no questioning of party policies.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) says Joe Biden will not be the Democratic Nominee in 2024
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 27, 2023
DETAILS: https://t.co/nF9F390uvh#ChrisSununu #Biden #DemocraticNominee #Explore #ExplorePage #ViralVideo #ViralVideos #Politics #News #US pic.twitter.com/Dpk6ECjaZR
So the obvious question is—why not? The Washington Examiner gives Sununu’s answer:
“But I’m gonna tell you, I don’t think Joe Biden is the nominee in 24,” said Sununu. “And this is just one drop, many of the many drops in the bucket.”
The governor said he believes Biden is going to go through the primary process but that the public will see “a wild convention” where the president and his people “start steering the delegates somewhere else.” He added that this will be done to ensure that Biden does not have to testify in court and “open all this other stuff.”
In politics, the key is to keep everyone’s attention. That’s why Trump is riding high: he’s all people are talking about. As P.T. Barnum once said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
If Biden were to pull out now, there would be chaos, and it would look as if Biden were giving up. By actually winning the delegates he needs, he’d be in a position to direct the convention. Of course, that would then be all that people would be talking about. It would be unprecedented. And there’d be a “new face” in the race. Polls have consistently shown that Americans do not want to see another Biden-Trump campaign.
Another benefit would be to allow the party to start fresh—without Kamala. While she was powerful grilling people in the Senate, she has shown that she is not great on the campaign trail, or as the face of the administration. If Biden’s gone, the party could start over. (Just as Wheel of Fortune should have dumped Vanna White and given Ryan Seacrest a partner of his choosing. . . .)
But wait, as they say on late-night TV sales pitches, there’s more! Sununu also says that he doesn’t believe that Trump will be the Republican candidate, either, reports Yahoo News.
Trump was “very, very beatable” in the GOP primary and there was a “huge opportunity” for one of his rivals to break through, explained Sununu.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy “is exciting people,” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum “is spending some money” and former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) are “great individuals with amazing records,” he continued in a video shared online by Mediaite.
Sununu doesn’t explain how Trump will fumble, according to OK Magazine, but he shows weakness.
“Look what’s happening to Donald Trump’s numbers just right here in New Hampshire. He’s at 37%,” Sununu explained. “That means 63% of that most hardcore voting base of Republicans don’t want that guy.”
Sununu joins the chorus led by Chris Christie, that Trump is a loser, according to Deseret News.
On Monday, Sununu told CNN host Dana Bash he does not believe Trump can win the general election, and that if Republicans nominate him they’ll be helping President Joe Biden win in 2024.
“The math has shown Donald Trump has no chance of winning in November of ’24. He wouldn’t even win Georgia. If you’re a Republican that can’t win Georgia (in) November ‘24, you have no shot, and he’s proven that,” he said.
While it’s clear how Sununu thinks Biden could bow out without losing face, he doesn’t suggest that Trump has any plans to quit the race—or that anyone could best him.
Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said that a wide field of candidates only helps Trump, so he has appealed to donors to withdraw their support from weak candidates so that someone strong can arise to fight Trump one-on-one, as quoted in The Hill. Trump can only win with a plurality—if there are many opponents.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah.) called on Republican donors to urge noncompetitive GOP presidential candidates to drop out of the race by February so former President Trump cannot run against a crowded field. . .
There are incentives for no-hope candidates to overstay their prospects. Coming in behind first place may grease another run in four years or have market value of its own: Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum got paying gigs,” Romney wrote, referring to two rivals of his in the 2012 GOP presidential primary. . .
“Left to their own inclinations, expect several of the contenders to stay in the race for a long time,” Romney added. “They will split the non-Trump vote, giving him the prize. A plurality is all that is needed for winner-take-all primaries.”
Is it realistic that Joe Biden will just give up the presidency for the good of his party? Or that Trump’s opponents will give up their run for the good of their party? It seems like a long shot, but long shots are the world we live in today.
