Tag: chris sununu
Chris Sununu

Gov. Sununu: Trump's Legal Woes Are 'Self-Inflicted' And 'Not Political' (VIDEO)

New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu does not mince words when it comes to former President Donald Trump.

The governor has urged fellow Republicans to pursue other 2024 GOP candidates other than the former president, and recently shunned other GOP presidential hopefuls for backing Trump after a Florida grand jury criminally indicted him for mishandling classified documents.

During a Sunday appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation, host John Dickerson asked Sununu about his opinion on whether Trump "should be given the responsibility to handle the most sensitive national security documents, again," if he were to win re-election, as well as his thoughts on Republican leaders' expression of outrage towards the Department of Justice (DOJ), instead of the former president.

"He had every chance in the world to hand all those files and documents back," Sununu said. "He did just the opposite. He bragged about keeping him. So this is very self-inflicted."

The governor emphasized, "I don't see this as being political. The average person may still think it's political," but, "the reality is a lot of people are looking at that kind of cloud that sits over the DOJ, and says there has been a little too much politics in that department over the past couple of years, there's been a lot of allegations of political handling. So they have the responsibility to say, look, this is different. This is much more severe. And I think they have to do that."

Referring to Trump 2024 rival candidates, Sununu said "they have to come out and acknowledge this is different, this is serious," adding, "I just see too many of the candidates trying to walk around it — 'We'll see what happens.' … You're running against this guy. He's whopping you by 40 points. Everybody needs to come out in concert. So it's not just Chris Christie hitting Donald Trump. … It is a party message. That is very, very important because Donald Trump doesn't represent the Republican Party. He only represents himself."

Watch the CBS video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Dr. Oz Quacks the Code of Republican Politics

Dr. Oz Quacks the Code of Republican Politics

Sean Parnell, the Trump-anointed candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, dropped out of the race a week ago after a custody hearing that featured lurid details of his relationship with his ex-wife. Laurie Snell alleged that Parnell had struck her, choked her, left her by the side of the road and hit one of their sons hard enough to leave a welt on the boy's back. Parnell countered that she had invented all of it.

Custody battles are infamous for exaggerated accusations and heated denials, and it's difficult for outsiders to know whom to believe and how much. But Parnell's comments off the witness stand didn't burnish his credibility. Appearing on Fox Nation, for example, Parnell opined, "I feel like the whole 'happy wife, happy life' nonsense has done nothing but raise one generation of woman tyrants after the next." He wasn't finished. "Now there's an entire generation of men that don't want to put up with the BS of a high-maintenance, narcissistic woman." Well. Someone seems to be dealing with anger issues. The would-be — er, rather, won't-be — senator concluded with a short sermon on biology: "From an evolutionary standpoint, it used to be, you know, women were attracted to your strength because you could defend them from dinosaurs." Where does the GOP find these geniuses?

Well, this one was one of the crops cultivated by Fox News. Parnell served, apparently honorably, in Afghanistan and wrote a book about his war experiences, but since his discharge, he has sought advancement mostly through public speaking. Becoming famous is a stand-alone career goal these days. Parnell was Diamond and Silk with testosterone. Fox and other right-wing media elevated him. He ran once for Congress — unsuccessfully. That's the whole resume. But Parnell caught the eye of the dauphin, Donald Trump Jr., who told Trump Sr. about him and voila, he was on his way to the U.S. Senate ... until the judge in the above-mentioned hearing awarded full custody of his three children to his ex-wife.

So, with the departure of the dinosaur slayer, the field was open for another clown. We'll come to Dr. Oz in a moment, but first, consider Chris Sununu.

Sununu is the very popular three-term governor of New Hampshire whom Mitch McConnell had been begging to enter the Senate race in 2022. Polls had shown Sununu running seven points ahead of sitting Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. But on November 9, he announced that he would forgo a Senate bid in favor of running for a fourth term as New Hampshire governor.

Sununu may not be your cup of tea as a leader — he isn't mine in all respects — but he has a record. He's for low taxes, state support for substance abusers, the death penalty, school choice, abortion rights, unrestricted gun rights, and LGBT-friendly measures such as permitting a nonbinary designation on driver's licenses. Before running for office, he worked as an environmental engineer and then as CEO of a ski resort that employed about 700 people. All told, a serious person with a checkable resume. Unlike some other northeast Republican governors, Sununu endorsed Donald Trump for reelection.

That Sununu, a solid, substantive politician (with an asterisk for his Trump endorsement), has no interest in an easy glide-path to the United States Senate speaks volumes about the state of the national GOP.

That brings us to Dr. Mehmet Oz. Unlike Parnell, Oz has impressive professional credentials and career accomplishments. He's a cardio-thoracic surgeon and professor at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. He holds degrees from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania (both the business and medical schools).

Oz could be at the pinnacle of America's professional class — respected, well-compensated, privileged to devote his career to caring for others, and teaching rising generations to do the same.

But that wasn't enough for Oz. He wanted to be a TV star. With a boost from Oprah, that's what he became, and before you could say ka-ching, he was hawking "miracle" weight loss drugs. There was green coffee extract: "You may think magic is make-believe, but this little bean has scientists saying they've found the magic weight-loss cure for every body type." And raspberry ketones: "the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat."

He also touted umckaloabo root extract as a cure for cold symptoms (it doesn't work) and lavender soap for leg cramps (don't bother). A 2014 study by Canadian researchers found that only 46 percent of the advice dispensed on The Dr. Oz Show was based on science. The following year, 1,000 physicians signed a letter calling upon Oz to resign from the Columbia faculty. "He's a quack and a fake and a charlatan," wrote Dr. Henry Miller of Stanford.

Maybe prostituting your professional credibility for fraudulent products is nothing to get too exercised about. It certainly isn't new — though the snake oil peddled in the 19th century was at least laced with cocaine or sometimes heroin. But Oz did more than abuse the trust of his audience by selling trash; he veered into outright harm when Covid-19 arrived, advising viewers about a "self-reported" hydroxychloroquine study that showed great results. The con man didn't bother to add that the study had not been peer-reviewed and its subjects consisted only of patients who were already near death.

Dr. Oz abuses every privilege life has handed him. He preys upon people with less knowledge and sophistication. He misleads even when it can cause harm. So, naturally, Sean Hannity is ready to help launch his political career.

Pennsylvania Republicans might have been better off with Parnell, who at least delivers his blows directly, without the smarmy deception.

Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the "Beg to Differ" podcast. Her most recent book is Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Former President Trump, left, watches Sen. Mitch McConnell speak in 2019.

How Trump Is Ruining McConnell's Plan To Regain Senate Majority

Reprinted with permission from DailyKos

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu dealt a serious blow to Senate Republicans Tuesday when he took a pass on running for Senate against one of the GOP's top targets—Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.

But Sununu is no exception to the rule, and he could very well be the canary in the coal mine for Senate Republicans. While Republicans had been eyeing New Hampshire as a serious pick-up opportunity, they had also dabbled with the idea of making Democrats at least squander some resources on playing defense in blue states like Vermont and Maryland. But as NBC News points out, that GOP aspiration is contingent on one of those state's popular Republican governors showing any interest at all in signing on to be part of the Senate GOP caucus.

"Vermont Gov. Phil Scott won re-election by 15 percentage points in 2018, the same year his famously progressive state overwhelmingly handed independent Sen. Bernie Sanders a third term," writes NBC. But Scott—really the only Vermont Republican who could pull off an upset against incumbent Sen. Patrick Leahy—didn't even vote for Trump and has no interest in running for Senate.

Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is in the same boat—popular but uninterested in running.

In short, it appears no moderate, sane-ish Republicans are jumping at the chance to join Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's caucus, particularly because Trump is so clearly calling the shots. Sununu's very public rejection of the Senate GOP also isn't going to make joining the caucus seem any more appealing to the kinds of candidates who would likely fare better in a general election.

So as moderate Republicans decline to run while fringe GOP candidates dominate the field, the entire Republican line up is getting more extreme.

That has Brian Walsh, a former Senate GOP campaign operative, hearing "echoes of 2010," when Senate Republicans failed to seize a majority despite the pro-Republican political environment.

"Arguably, Republicans lost five seats between 2010 and 2012 because of bad general election candidates," Walsh told NBC. "I'm not saying that's necessarily going to happen here. We don't know that yet. But broadly, candidates matter."

Here's the GOP scorecard so far:

In New Hampshire, which Republicans had slated as a top target for a pick up, they're now scrambling for a candidate.

In Georgia, another GOP pick-up opportunity, Republicans will likely be saddled with Trump pick Herschel Walker, who has a violent and allegedly abusive history.

In Nevada, which Republicans also hope to flip, the state party is in the midst of an epic meltdown. At the same time, they appear to be rallying around former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who made stoking Trump's Big Lie his life's mission.

Laxalt sued to stop the ballot counting in the state's largest county (which Trump lost), sued to overturn Biden's victory, baselessly claimed votes of dead people had been counted, baselessly claimed votes from undocumented immigrants had tipped the state to Biden, and again filed a post-certification lawsuit alleging the GOP secretary of state had allowed non-citizens to vote.

In Arizona, another GOP flip opportunity, the four-person primary is headed hard right and nasty negative as state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, energy executive Jim Lamon, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Mick McGuire and Blake Masters duke it out. Brnovich (aka nunchuck guy) likely has the highest statewide name recognition outside of GOP Gov. Doug Ducey (who Trump hates and has declined to run). But Masters runs billionaire Peter Thiel's investment firm and just this week Trump announced a fundraiser for him (because Trump also faults Brnovich for failing to overturn the state's 2020 results).

In Pennsylvania, one of Democrats' best pick-up opportunities, the GOP primary for the open seat has turned downright embarrassing. Trump endorsed Army vet Sean Parnell, who is embroiled in an ugly custody battle in which his estranged wife testified that Parnell abused her and one of their children. Senate Republicans are dodging questions about the race as Parnell's candidacy spirals.

In North Carolina, which also has an open Senate seat, Trump complicated the race with an early endorsement of a lesser-known GOP congressman, Rep. Ted Budd, while former Gov. Pat McCrory has a higher profile and a likely edge among Republican voters. If McCrory triumphs, it remains to be seen whether he can win over Trump voters in the general election.

Other potential Democratic pick ups include Florida and Wisconsin, with incumbent Sens. Marco Rubio and Ron Johnson, and on the outside edge, open seats in Ohio and Missouri, where Republicans just might manage to put the seats in play despite their considerable advantages in each state.

Notably, Trump is playing the key role in nearly every one of those Senate contests. In almost every state, Trump has done at least one of several things: repelled a top-tier candidate, made an endorsement, radicalized the GOP field, or become a complicating factor by incessantly pushing his election fraud lies and demanding absolute fealty.

New Hampshire’s GOP Governor Awards School Funding To For-Profit Education Outfit

New Hampshire’s GOP Governor Awards School Funding To For-Profit Education Outfit


New Hampshire received about $156 million from the December pandemic relief bill for school relief. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu unilaterally decided to send $6 million of that to a for-profit company that operates homeschooling pods.

The bipartisan Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act contained $13.5 billion in "Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief" funds, known as ESSER II. Under the law, states were required to distribute 90 percent of their share of those funds to local education agencies. The other 10 percent could be used to address emergency educational needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, Sununu instructed his Department of Education to issue a no-bid contract to spend $2 million of those funds in 2021 and $4 million more in 2022 on Prenda's "Recovering Bright Futures Program."

According to the department's website, the microschool company will give localities "the opportunity to provide students with access to Learning Pods starting this fall." The pods will be five to 10 elementary or middle-school-aged students, taught by Prenda's employees in school buildings or other public locations.

According to Prenda's site, the educators it provides for these pods are not teachers but "guides." These requirements to become one of these guides are minimal; they must be at least 18 years old, pass a criminal check, be certified in CPR and first aid, have some facility with technology, and have "6 months of experience (paid or unpaid) working with children (other than your own) in the last 5 years. Volunteering counts!"

Under the contract, the company will receive $5,000 per pupil. That amount is higher than the $3,708-per-student payments the state provides to local schools in "Adequacy Aid," money to ensure each receives an adequate public education, according to the Concord Monitor.

Though the Sununu administration claimed these largely unregulated microschools "are particularly helpful to students who have experienced learning loss and will thrive with more individualized attention," little data is available to indicate how effective they are. Prenda's website says they have provided services to about 4,000 kids to date.

In an emailed statement, New Hampshire state Representative Mel Myler (D), a member of the House Committee on Education, told the American Independent:

Chris Sununu took millions of dollars in federal funds meant to help public schools reopen and remain open during the pandemic and gave it to an unaccountable Koch-funded firm.
Chris Sununu's decision to use federal funds to advance his anti-public school agenda and help a shady for-profit organization, rather than providing public schools the resources they need to prepare for the next phase of the pandemic, could have serious consequences for our teachers and students.

According to a Truthoutreport, Prenda is backed by multiple nonprofits linked to petrochemical billionaire Charles Koch.

A Sununu spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.