New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who endorsed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for president, declined to say whether he intends to continue his campaign if he does not win Sunday’s election. initially in his own house.
In an interview with NBC News, “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Sununu, “If Haley can’t win her home state, can she continue in this race? What’s the way she can’t win South Carolina?” Sununu replied, “A month.”
“Honestly, I’m not looking at it right now. I’m looking at the next 72 hours,” he said. “We’re going bandits. He’s going around the state. He’s hitting every voter. He’s going everywhere.”
Welker then pressed Sunu again: “If he doesn’t win South Carolina, is he going to have to take a hard look at his campaign and potentially reevaluate being in this race?”
Sununu dodged the question.
“I think after every state you look at your campaign, but it’s a month away. I mean, it’s really a month away,” he said.
Welker also mentioned South Carolina Senator Tim Scott’s endorsement of Trump. Scott, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in November, was appointed to her Senate seat by Haley in 2012. Haley herself, a former UN ambassador under Trump noted At a New Hampshire rally on Saturday, Scott said he was “certainly” disappointed by the decision.
“Tim Scott doesn’t matter,” Sunu said.
Sununu previously predicted Haley would win New Hampshire in a landslide, but has since scaled back expectations and said even a strong second place Sunday would benefit her campaign.
Sununu said Haley was trying to “build on the momentum” from Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.
“He’s challenging [former President Donald Trump] here,” Sununu said, referring to the primary election held in New Hampshire. “Now he will go to his homeland, where he won a lot before. He knows how to do it on the floor, and people don’t realize that South Carolina isn’t next week — it’s three or four weeks away, and Nicky will have plenty of time to build on the momentum he’s already got. created.”