New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for president, on Sunday declined to say whether she intends to continue her campaign if she doesn’t win the primary in her home state.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Sununu, “If Haley can’t win in her home state, can she continue in this race? What’s her path that she can’t win South Carolina?” Sununu replied, “That’s a month away.”
“To be honest, not even looking at that right now. I’m looking at the next 72 hours,” he said. “We’re going like gangbusters. She’s crisscrossing the state. She’s hitting every voter. She’s going everywhere.”
Welker then pressed Sununu again: “If she doesn’t win South Carolina, is she going to need to take a hard look at her campaign and potentially reassess being in this race?”
Sununu dodged the question.
“I think after every state, you look at your campaign, obviously, but that’s a month away. I mean, it’s really a month away,” he said.
Welker also noted South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s endorsement of Trump. Scott, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in November, was appointed by Haley to his Senate seat in 2012. Haley, the former U.N. ambassador under Trump, herself noted at a New Hampshire rally Saturday that she was “of course” disappointed by Scott’s decision.
“Tim Scott doesn’t matter,” Sununu said.
While Sununu had previously predicted Haley would win New Hampshire in a landslide, he has since lowered expectations, saying Sunday that even a strong second-place finish would benefit her campaign.
Sununu said Haley is seeking to “build on momentum” from the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
“She’s challenging [former President Donald Trump] here,” Sununu said, referring to the New Hampshire primary. “And now she, again, gets to go to her home state, where she’s won a lot before. She knows how to do it on the ground, and people don’t realize the South Carolina isn’t next week — it’s like three or four weeks away, and Nikki is going to have a lot of time to build on the momentum she’s already created.”
