‘Sorry, Ron, you're No. 2’: Sununu says he’s the top dog among conservative governors
“I'm ranked the most fiscally conservative governor in the country,” Sununu told POLITICO.
Chris Sununu, the New Hampshire governor and potential 2024 candidate, has developed a profile as a center-right alternative to Donald Trump.
On Thursday, he pushed back on that perception while taking a swipe at another prominent likely 2024 hopeful: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Sununu, known for being outspoken against Trump, tried to shed the moderate label he's earned as he spoke with POLITICO at The Fifty: America’s Governors.
“I'm ranked the most fiscally conservative governor in the country,” Sununu, who is considering a 2024 presidential bid, told POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky. “I'm No. 1 in personal freedoms. Sorry, Ron, you're No. 2,” he added, a jab at the Florida governor, considered a frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“I would challenge anyone on Second Amendment rights. We’re far and away the best, you know, because we believe in those individual freedoms. Regulatory reform, I’ll challenge any state on it,” Sununu added.
Sununu acknowledged that he may be “more moderate” on social issues. But on those issues, New Hampshire has “better results than almost anywhere else,” he said.
“I would challenge anyone on conservative credentials.”
Sununu, a New England moderate in the party of MAGA, has positioned himself as a Trump alternative who still carries the conservative mantle. And while he holds an advantage with New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status for the presidential primary calendar, it's unclear what his path would be beyond that.
To that point, Sununu took shots at Democratic Party plans to strip New Hampshire of it's calendar pole position, calling the move “a complete fool's errand,” and saying the plan to bestow that status on South Carolina would open President Joe Biden up to primary attacks.
“He's really opened ... himself up for challengers," Sununu said. “And I firmly believe there will be challengers.”
“They're gonna have to let it play out. But there's no doubt someone will step in and be a real challenger to Biden, because he tried to move the primary away from [New Hampshire],” Sununu said.