Sununu passes on 2024 to "have more credibility speaking out against Trump"
Chris Sununu speaks at the 2023 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25 in New York City. Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) ruled out running for president in 2024, saying he can have more influence on the race "untethered from the limitations of a presidential campaign."
Driving the news: "I will have more credibility speaking out against [former President] Trump as a non-candidate to help move the conversation toward the future I believe the Republican Party should embrace," Sununu wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Monday.
- Sununu said that if Trump is the Republican nominee, his party will lose. "This is indisputable, and I am not willing to let it happen without a fight," he wrote.
- "I believe I can have more influence on the future of the Republican Party and the 2024 nominating process not as a candidate but as the governor of the first-in-the-nation primary state," he wrote."
- "We must not be complacent, and candidates should not get into this race to further a vanity campaign, to sell books or to audition to serve as Donald Trump’s vice president," he wrote.
The big picture: Sununu called on candidates "with no path to victory" to exit the race by this winter if they are polling in the low single digits.
- "Too many other candidates who have entered this race are simply running to be Trump’s vice president," he wrote.
- "That’s not leadership; that’s weakness. Too many candidates are afraid to confront Trump, surrendering to his attacks."
- Sununu announced his decision on CNN.
Zoom out: Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork Monday with the Federal Election Commission to launch his 2024 presidential bid as the crowded 2024 field continues to grow.
- Former Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce his candidacy this week.