New Hampshire’s GOP governor slams McConnell over suggestion states declare bankruptcy: ‘Ridiculous’

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) suggestion that states should declare bankruptcy “ridiculous” and “dangerous,” joining a growing group of Republican officials across the country who have balked at the senator’s remarks.

“That’s a ridiculous statement that the states ‘should go bankrupt,’ ” Sununu said, according to WMUR, at a news conference Thursday. 

“Anyone who’s saying that in the Senate doesn’t know what’s going on in the states, doesn’t know the pressures that states are under, and the sacrifices we’ve had to make,” he continued. 

Sununu’s comments came after McConnell told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt this week that he supported letting states declare bankruptcy and positioned Republicans as cautious of providing them with additional federal relief. 

“I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route. It saves some cities. And there’s no good reason for it not to be available,” McConnell said. “My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they don’t have to do that. That’s not something I’m going to be in favor of.”

The governor said that while there should be accountability with regard to the federal government providing states with funding, it was “wrong” for McConnell to have made the remarks during a global pandemic.

“To say that states should just go bankrupt is a dangerous statement,” Sununu said. 

Sununu is the latest GOP official to condemn McConnell’s remarks. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said McConnell would ultimately regret his comments, while Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who is retiring, called McConnell the “Marie Antoinette of the Senate.”