Lewandowski says Trump asked him to look for challenger to Sununu

Former President Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Wednesday said that Trump has tasked him with finding a primary challenger to run against New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R).

In an interview with conservative radio host Howie Carr, Lewandowski said that Trump is looking to do away with Sununu, because he sees the New Hampshire governor as insufficiently loyal to him and his political vision.

“The president, as some of your listeners can probably appreciate and understand, is very unhappy with the chief executive officer of the state of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu,” Lewandowski said. “And, you know, Gov. Sununu, in the president’s estimation, is someone who’s never been loyal to him. And, you know, the president really said it would be great if somebody would run against Chris Sununu.”

Lewandowski said that Trump had given him two key directives in New Hampshire, including ensuring that Republicans have a “great candidate” to take on Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in her 2022 reelection bid.

“The second is potentially finding someone to run against Chris Sununu,” he said. Lewandowski did not mention the names of any potential challengers. 

Lewandowski rattled off a list of grievances with Sununu, arguing that the New Hampshire governor regularly avoided traveling with and appearing alongside Trump while he was in the White House. Lewandowski also pointed to a recent appearance by Sununu on CNN during which he shot down the idea of having Trump campaign alongside him.

“I don’t need anyone to campaign with me,” Sununu told CNN. “I’m a big believer that as a candidate you got to stand on your own two feet, you got to look your fellow citizens in the eye and you got to earn their vote as you.”

While Sununu backed Trump’s presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020, he’s shown himself to be more willing than many other Republicans to break with the former president at times. For one, he’s rejected Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen.