Lewandowski Claims That He’s On Mission From Trump To Take Out Sununu, Hassan

Corey Lewandowski, a relic of the Trump administration, said that he’s on a mission from the former President to field quality candidates against New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH). 

Trump had given him two jobs in his home state, Lewandowski said Wednesday on the Howie Carr radio show.

“One is making sure we’ve got a great candidate in the U.S. Senate race up here in New Hampshire who can beat Maggie Hassan, another failed, hack, Washington, DC politician who’s never delivered,” he said. “And the second is potentially finding someone to run against Chris Sununu, to make sure they understand that the ‘America First’ agenda is more than just a saying. It’s actually about putting people first and listening to what constituents have to say.”

He added that Trump is “very unhappy” with Sununu, who he believes has “never been loyal to him.”

“The NH GOP Senate primary just got even messier now with Corey Lewandowski making it clear that the only way Don Bolduc, Chuck Morse, or Kevin Smith can win this crazy and complicated primary is with Donald Trump’s endorsement,” New Hampshire Democrats chair Ray Buckley told TPM in a statement, referring to various GOP primary contenders.

“Meanwhile, Lewandowski’s comments show how the New Hampshire Republican Party is descending into a vicious civil war between Chris Sununu and Donald Trump,” he added. “Not only is Chris Sununu facing an existential threat to his political career, but the Republican Senate candidates are going to have to decide whose team they are on: Trump’s or Chris Sununu’s.”

As to the challenger to Sununu, a person with America First running through his very veins, Lewandowski may already have a candidate in mind: himself. 

The former Trump advisor said a year ago that he was considering gunning for the governor’s mansion, and that he would not be dissuaded from running by the popular Sununu’s potential incumbency, per local TV station WMUR. 

He even added at the time that he hoped Sununu would challenge Hassan rather than running for a fourth term, since Lewandowski fancies himself “more of a chief executive officer than a senator.”

Sununu, though, turned down the extensive Republican courtship to get him into the Senate race, taking a smack at the current Republican inhabitants of the upper chamber as he did so. 

“They were all, for the most part, content with the speed at which they weren’t doing anything,” Sununu said of the Republican senators last month. “It was very clear that we just have to hold the line for two years.”

“Okay, so I’m just going to be a roadblock for two years,” he continued, characterizing the attitude of GOP senators he consulted with about the job. “That’s not what I do.”

He added that he’d asked why they didn’t pass their priorities in 2017 and 2018 when they had full control of the government, and was met with “crickets.” 

Sununu’s decision let Democrats heave a sigh of relief, after the governor cruised to reelection by a 30-plus point victory in 2020. Hassan, on the other hand, only won her seat in 2016 by a 1,017 vote margin, making her a prime Republican target. 

Absent Sununu, the field is less competitive. 

One challenger is retired brigadier general Donald Bolduc, an ally of Michael Flynn and a fervent conspiracy theorist.

After taking credit for chasing Sununu out of the race, he announced out of the blue: “He’s a Chinese communist sympathizer! He’s in business with Saudi Arabian companies that give money to terrorist organizations.”

There are a couple other less colorful Republicans in the race, though none of whom would present the same threat to Hassan that Sununu would have. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who personally lobbied Sununu to run, has singled out Republican New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse as a potentially good candidate.