New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on Sunday condemned former President Trump’s comments dangling the prospect of pardons for his supporters who participated in the deadly Capitol insurrection if he were re-elected.
During a rally in Conroe, Texas on Saturday night, the former president boasted to his supporters that he would treat the mob who breached the Capitol “fairly” if he runs for re-election and wins.
“If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly,” Trump said during the rally, referring to the mob of his supporters who stormed the Capitol and endangered lawmakers’ lives on the day of the joint session of Congress certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory last year.
“And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly,” he added.
Sununu swiftly made clear during an appearance on CNN that he does not condone Trump’s remarks, saying that the insurrectionists need to be “held accountable.”
“Everybody needs to be held fairly accountable across. That’s part of leadership,” Sununu said.
Asked whether the insurrectionists should be pardoned, Sununu said, “Of course not, oh, my goodness, no.”
Sununu also dismissed the notion of the former president campaigning with him.
“I don’t need anyone to campaign with me. Look, 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, not as endorsements. Endorsements are fine and all that kind of stuff,” Sununu said. “But, at the end of the day, I’m a big believer, whether you’re running for the planning board, governor or president, you got to look folks in the eye and earn the votes yourself.”
Sununu’s comments come days after the Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed 14 people who sought to act as supposed alternate electors for Trump in 2020. The subpoenas came in response to an unsuccessful plot by the former president’s supporters to submit fake slates of Electoral College votes, including certificates, from states nationwide.
Politico reported earlier this month on a Trump-era draft executive order that laid out a plan to seize voting machines. The order, which was dated Dec. 16, 2020 and was among the documents that Trump’s lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to shield from the committee, was never issued. According to Politico, it is unclear who authored the draft and the extent to which Trump considered it.
The committee has also begun closing in on Trump’s inner circle. It has requested voluntary cooperation from Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump. Additionally, the panel subpoenaed some key players in Trump’s orbit for testimony, such as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Boris Epshteyn.
Watch Sununu’s remarks below:
