Longtime readers know that I dig state nicknames. New Hampshire has one of the best: The Granite State. The nickname is often used to describe the qualities of New Hampshire voters and politicians who are supposedly flinty, strong, and fiercely independent. I’ve never bought the analogy, but it collapsed after Gov. Chris Sununu humiliated himself in a recent interview with my diminutive countryman George Stephanopoulos. And that is why Chris Sununu is malaka of the week.
The Sununus are staples of New Hampshire Republican politics: Chris’ father John H was governor then Poppy Bush’s notoriously arrogant Chief of Staff and his brother John E was a Congressman and one-term Senator. None of them is known for their political courage but Chris abased himself last Sunday.
“The discussion continued along those lines until Stephanopoulos said: “Just to sum up, you would support him for president even if he is convicted in classified documents. You would support him for president even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection. You would support him for president even though you believe he’s lying about the last election. You would support him for president even if he’s convicted in the Manhattan case. I just want to say, the answer to that is yes, correct?”
Sununu replied with enthusiasm: “Yeah, me and 51 percent of America.”
Trump, of course, received 46% of the vote in the last two general elections. If not for the electoral college, Gov. Sununu wouldn’t have to beg for mercy from the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian. The pathetic thing is that this sort of groveling works: Bullies love when their victims come crawling. Trump is the ultimate bully.
The odd thing about Chris Sununu’s abasement is that it wasn’t necessary: He’s not running for reelection and passed on running for the Senate in this cycle. The normal rules of political hackdom don’t apply to this situation.
Why humiliate yourself if you’re not on the ballot? In a word, tribalism: Sununu and his ilk think we should risk dictatorship because they don’t like Biden’s polices; neither does Liz Cheney but she understands what could happen if Trump wins. Of course, she’s been threatened with jail and her fellow political dynast has not. The malakatude, it burns.
Chris Sununu is just the latest in a long line of Trump dignity wraiths; a phrase coined by Josh Marshall in 2016. Sununu has a chance of being the Lindsey Graham of the 2024 election cycle. Who knew that the Granite State governor had a gelatinous spine? And that is why Chris Sununu is malaka of the week.
The last word goes to The National:
