Sununu Pushes Back at CNN Host Trying to Blame GOP for Pelosi Attack (Newsmax)
By Eric Mack | Tuesday, 01 November 2022 12:48 PM EDT
New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu pushed back on CNN's Don Lemon blaming Republicans for political division that led to the attack on Paul Pelosi last week, calling to "bring the temperature down" on divisive, dangerous political rhetoric.
"Whether you're a governor, a president, or an elected official in Washington, everyone should be speaking out about horrific actions of what happened," Sununu told Lemon on Tuesday morning.
Sununu pointed to the congressional baseball game shooting where Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., was shot by a Democrat extremist and the potential attack thwarted that targeted conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh just this summer.
"Justice Kavanaugh was almost assassinated outside his home just a few months ago," Sununu continued. "So, there is danger on both sides. No one is immune."
Lemon suggested Democrats are better because they denounce it and "Republicans don't do that."
"Are they afraid of Don Jr., are they afraid of Donald Trump, are they afraid to come out and lose votes?" Lemon asked.
But Sununu said the tack taken by Lemon only further exacerbates political division.
"I'm here as a member of the Republican Party; you denounce it wholeheartedly, and I think a lot of folks have," Sununu said. "I totally get it.
"Whatever the issue and the action of the day is — unfortunately this week it happened to Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and her husband and her family. That's real. Does that mean it's going to stop today? Probably not, unfortunately, right?
"It's going to potentially continue and so, as a whole, the media, the social media, elected officials, everyone within their community needs to bring that temperature down."
Sununu, whose father John Sununu was the White House chief of staff under President George H.W. Bush, has been on mainstream media frequently of late, including taking CNN's "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper to task Sunday for suggesting 2020 election questions should be a key voting issue in 2022 over the economy and inflation.
"You're in a bubble, man!" Sununu told Tapper.