New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has endorsed former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley for president.
Haley is currently vying for second place in the Republican primary polls against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
“We are all in on Nikki Haley,” said Sununu at an event in Manchester, New Hampshire on Dec. 12.
Sununu said residents he has met while campaigning have expressed frustration at elitism in Washington, D.C.
“The rest of the country is looking to New Hampshire,” said the governor. “We never choose yesterday's news, right? And that’s what the people say to me. They’re like, ‘Look governor, we’re like you. We were with [President Donald] Trump in ‘16. We were with Trump in ‘20 but things are too critical. So, we’re just going to say a polite thank you for your service and we’re moving on.’”
“This is New Hampshire and we go forward,” he added. “So, let’s not miss this opportunity.”
Sununu said Haley has “taken the time to earn the trust of the citizens and voters” of New Hampshire.
In a subsequent post on X, Sununu called Haley “the candidate with the momentum to win and get our party back on track to delivering conservative victories across the country.”
“I mean, it doesn’t get any better than this: to go and get endorsed by the live-free-or-die governor is about as rock solid of an endorsement as we could hope for,” Haley told a New Hampshire crowd after she joined the governor on stage.
Sununu has been critical of Trump and announced in June that he would not endorse the former president. In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, the governor said he planned to endorse “the candidate I believe has the best chance of winning in November of 2024.”
“I have no intention of endorsing Donald Trump. Yesterday’s news. Nothing personal,” he said during an interview with NewsNation on June 28. “I think there are just too many other good opportunities to settle for yesterday’s news.”
Sununu said that Trump “is the former establishment” and “has got so much drama” that it is inappropriate to ask the Republican Party to “basically be his therapist.”
“We want to move beyond the drama,” he said.
Trump called Sununu a RINO in a post on Truth Social in July.
“I never liked him, but always did whatever he asked for the State, because I wanted to help New Hampshire, and I did!” he wrote, per The Hill.
According to a poll from YouGov and The Economist, 61% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican said they would vote for Trump in the primary if it were held tomorrow. Another 11% said they’d pick DeSantis while 10% would vote for Haley.
More respondents (36%) believed President Joe Biden would defeat Haley in a general election than believed Haley could defeat the incumbent (32%).
The New Hampshire primary takes place on Jan. 23.
