A defiant New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said he will not allow a change in his state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary, telling Democrats and President Joe Biden to “pound sand.”
In forceful comments, Sununu also rejected claims that his state does not have a population that reflects the diversity of the nation, and he mocked Democrats for favoring South Carolina as the first primary state, calling the decision a payoff to friends, presumably Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), who helped Biden take the 2020 state primary.
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“Why is he going to South Carolina? Because his buddies are there. It’s literally a very blatant personal political payback to his friends that supported him and turned his nomination around. That’s the worst reason to pick a state to have such political and electoral responsibility,” said Sununu, himself considering a bid for the GOP presidential nomination.
New Hampshire has a state law requiring it to hold the first primary in the nation. The Democrats have asked it to change the date so South Carolina could go first.
“We are not,” Sununu said at an event on Tuesday night hosted by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. “We’re still having the primary. The state does not do what the Democrat Party says. Our primary will be likely the third week in January,” he said.
When asked to change the date, Sununu said he wrote a clear, though “snarky,” letter back on the request proposed by the Democrats and Biden.
“Go pound sand. You’re crazy. I dare you,” he said he told the Democratic Party, adding, “I laid it out to Biden, the horrible mistake he’s made.”
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He also ripped the argument that South Carolina represents the party better. He pointed out that, diverse or not, South Carolina residents are poor voters.
“You know what they said? South Carolina is more racially diverse, we have a more diverse voting base. They have barely 15% voter participation. What’s the point of diversity if you don’t encourage people to get out and vote? I have 50-plus percent voter participation, rich, poor inner city, rural, black, white, it doesn’t matter what color. Everybody participates in New Hampshire,” he argued.
