New Hampshire Gov. Sununu criticizes Republicans for ’embarrassing’ support of Trump
Rachel Schilke
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Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) criticized Republicans who attended CNN‘s town hall with Donald Trump for their reaction to the former president’s comments, including those directed at writer E. Jean Carroll.
“It was embarrassing,” Sununu said in an interview with MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, airing Sunday. “I knew pretty much everybody in that audience — they’re all Trump supporters.”
“I wasn’t surprised to hear the support,” Sununu continued. “When you’re talking about a serious issue like that, and laughter and mocking and all that, it’s completely inappropriate, without a doubt. And it doesn’t shine a positive light on New Hampshire.”
The town hall came one day after a New York jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll, who accused him of raping her at a Bergdorf Goodman store in New York in the 1990s.
He reiterated previous claims that he had never met Carroll and that she was a “liar” during the town hall, and he blamed the outcome of the trial on political motivations.
“What’s happening is they are doing this for election interference,” Trump said of the trial’s verdict on Wednesday. “This woman, I don’t know her, I never met her, I have no idea who she is.”
“This is a fake story, a made-up story,” Trump continued, adding that it “wouldn’t have made a difference” if he had appeared at the trial to testify.
He also made light of the sexual abuse he was held liable for.
“What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes, you’re playing hanky-panky in a dressing room?” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.
While Sununu said the town hall did not case New Hampshire in a positive light, he argued that the audience’s allegiance to the former president should not be looked over.
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“Maybe they’re undeclared voters, but I believe every single one of them had voted for Trump at some point,” Sununu, who had no part in choosing town hall attendees, said “I don’t know … how they determined that and set that up, but obviously it was a roomful of Trump supporters.”
“So no one should have been surprised to hear the support,” Sununu added. “But again, on that issue, it was — I would call it embarrassing.”