New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said Vice President Harris “definitely” won the first debate against former President Trump, but argued both candidates fell short of connecting “empathetically” with voters.
“Oh, Kamala definitely won the debate,” Sununu said during an appearance Wednesday morning on CNN. “There’s no question about that. So the question is, what does it mean, right? And it’s not just, what does it mean to everybody? What’s going to do that 10 percent of swing voters?”
“I think, if you poll those swing voters, they want results,” he said. “They’re results-driven. It’s the cost of living, it’s the border, it’s public safety. Those types of issues, you can be the change agent to make that better in their lives.”
Sununu was a fierce critic of Trump as one of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s chief surrogates in the GOP primary before she dropped out, but has since said he’s backing Trump despite believing he “contributed” to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection .
The outgoing New Hampshire governor, who considered a presidential run of his own this cycle, praised Harris’s debate strategy Tuesday night.
“She kind of talked confidence in her answers, and then she took the last 30 seconds of almost every question and hit him with a personal attack, knowing that that would get under his skin,” Sununu said. “It was a very effective measure, and I give her a lot of credit on that. It kept him on the defensive, to be sure, and it’s ultimately, definitely, stylistically, why she openly won the debate.”
The ABC News debate Tuesday night marked the first time Harris and Trump met in person. The vice president had a sharp performance, battling with the ex-president on immigration, economy, foreign policy, abortion and other policy areas.
CNN’s flash poll , released shortly after the debate, found that 63 percent of registered voters who watched the duel said Harris outperformed Trump. Around 37 percent said Trump was the winner Tuesday night.
Sununu said the debate would move the needle “a little bit” but argued neither candidate explained to voters how they would help lower costs for average Americans. The GOP governor added Trump failed to take advantage of openings to go on the offense over the economy.
“He should have talked about price controls,” Sununu said. “He should have talked about the cost of living more. I think he went like an hour not even talking about inflation, and those are real issues.”
Sununu said the ex-president should also draw a bigger contrast on foreign policy with Harris, saying on CNN there “was clearly more peace” during Trump’s presidency.
“That is a strength that he has that he has not exploited in this campaign,” he said. “There is chaos in Ukraine, chaos in Israel. You know, there’s a lot of pressure going on in Taiwan. Let’s not forget about that. Let’s not forget about Afghanistan.”
The Harris campaign quickly challenged Trump to a second debate after the first one wrapped Tuesday night. Trump has so far declined to accept the challenge.
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