New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) said Sunday that the possible imminent arrest of former President Trump in an investigation into alleged hush money payments during the 2016 presidential election has sparked sympathy for the former president.
“I think it builds a lot of sympathy for the former president,” Sununu said of the possible arrest on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The governor said some Republicans he spoke to who are not “big Trump supporters” expressed concern that the former president was “under attack.”
“I just think that not just the media, but really a lot of the Democrats have misunderstood this in terms of building sympathy for the former president and it’s dramatically changing the paradigm as we go into the ’24 election,” Sununu said.
Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, said in a Truth Social post Saturday that he expects to be arrested Tuesday for allegedly paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election, encouraging his supporters to protest.
Sununu emphasized on Sunday that this possible arrest is unrelated to the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, suggesting that there are other matters that should take precedence.
“There’s a question of why they’re doing it, something from seven years ago. It’s not nothing, but it’s moving money and how he claimed money was moving between him and his lawyer. You know, there are other issues that really take precedence in terms of where this country needs to go, what we need to do to get things done, how we manage our budget, how we secure the border,” Sununu said.
“There are much more pressing matters of the day. It’s just a shame this made headlines.”
Sununu has said he is considering his own presidential bid for 2024, and while he did not confirm his campaign on Sunday, said he would be “happy to debate if we went down that path”.
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