Sununu celebrates possibility of Biden withdrawal: ‘I told you so’

If bets were placed a year ago about who would be at the top of the Democratic ticket, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) believes he would be cashing in.

During the short-lived 2024 Republican presidential primary cycle, Sununu often said he believed his party would not be facing President Joe Biden come November. While many wrote off his comments because Biden was far and away the favorite in the Democratic primary, the governor said he now feels vindicated as Biden faces growing calls within his party to step away from the race.

“No one likes an ‘I told you so’ moment as much as a politician,” Sununu said at the Politico-CNN Grill at the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

“I’ve been saying this for well over a year,” he continued. “It’s real. It’s happening.”

He said Biden would “be really easy to beat” and advised Republicans to begin preparing their campaign to run against Vice President Kamala Harris. Sununu also suggested Republicans should begin testing messaging against Harris and a separate running mate.

Sununu also said that as a governor, he had personally witnessed a decline in Biden over time.

“Running for president is not what this gentleman should be doing right now,” Sununu said. “There’s a responsibility of the family to give good advice, and I just don’t think they’ve been giving him some very good advice.”

Sununu broke down Biden’s options of staying in the race or exiting in terms of his political legacy.

“He’s got a legacy decision to make,” Sununu said. “He can be the Democrat that everyone remembers for moving [former President Donald] Trump off the ballot in 2020 or the Democrat that everyone remembers that overstayed his welcome and handed it back to Republicans — which is fine by me.”

While the New Hampshire governor backed former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley during her run this presidential cycle and was a vocal critic of Trump, Sununu has now switched to backing the former president.

“I think a lot of it will bear out tonight, to see where the [former] president’s speech goes,” Sununu said. “I think it’s about unity — not of the unity of his base … or just even unity of the Republican Party. … Former President Trump now has to talk about the unity of America.”