By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Is Gov. Chris Sununu going to run for the U.S. Senate and be an advocate for changes to Social Security and Medicaid?
Key New Hampshire Democrats think so, based on an interview Sununu gave last week on the podcast “Ruthless.”
But a spokesman for the Republican governor said not so fast.
State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, State Rep. Mary Jane Wallner, D-Concord, and New Hampshire’s Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley held a virtual press conference Thursday to decry the governor’s recent comments related to Social Security and Medicare coverage on a politically conservative podcast.
They argued that from that interview they learned he is supporting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s long-held goal of eviscerating the social programs that for millions of people are their financial lifeline.
But Ben Vihstadt, the governor’s press secretary said Sununu did not go down that path in the interview.
“Really?” he said. “Please point out to me where he said literally anything you are writing. I don’t see any quotes that support their false thesis.”
Gates MacPherson, spokesman for the New Hampshire Democrats responded that the transcripts show that the governor made the following comments to Josh Holmes.
“SUNUNU: [00:18:57] Yes. Yeah. I mean, look, the question is, I mean, I’m a big believer. I mean, I do care about these big issues. Right? I talk to citizens all the time that are fixed income, Social Security, Medicare. The stuff is all going bankrupt.
HOLMES: [00:19:09] Yes.
SUNUNU: [00:19:10] It is going to fail, like, really, really soon. And so I look at them and I go, oh, my God. Like, I don’t know if they understand how messed up this situation is and they’re relying on that. And so, you know, can I go down there and really fix that? And I have to be honest, I talked as many Republicans and Democrats that I talked to the like, ‘Yeah, it’ll never get fixed. You can’t do it. You can’t do it.’ And I’m like, ‘you better do it. There’s no option here guys.’
HOLMES: [00:19:32] That’s a hell of a take.
SUNUNU: [00:19:33] 28 trillion dollars is a very real number. It’s gotten so big that it’s become unreal, but it’s very real. And so I do look at those issues and I do think I could help. […] And if things don’t work, we’ve designed flexibility so we can move funding or move policy or move rules and guidance to pivot around a better solution. And so there’s always a way to do it. I just don’t know if Washington I guess I don’t know if Washington can handle it, Josh.
[…]
HOLMES: [00:21:01] But I really think that we are now at a two or four-year precipice where there could be some serious conservative reform that addresses the big issues like you just talked about, like Social Security. The answer to whether you can do it or not is it’s either there or not. Right. And these are the big things that we need, really smart people who are committed, who aren’t interested in their own political, you know, sort of profile, but rather just helping people. And I think that’s why I’m been such a huge fan of yours, is that I think that’s the definition of your public service up to this point.
SUNUNU: [00:22:14] So I was talking to a congressman recently. I just met him, really a super nice guy. And I think one of the individuals you’re probably talking about. A young individual that had just [been] elected, tons of energy and we’re talking about Medicare. And I said, and he said, look, man, I mean, the hard thing about something like rebuilding and making sure that we fund Medicare properly and making some of the changes we need is, you know, they’re going to run those ads that you know, ‘You took my Medicare.’ And I said, ‘The Democrats are going to run those ads anyway. No matter what happens, you might as well get a good result and actually fix that thing, too.” But I also said, look, I believe in what you’re doing. If you get a better result, the results will take care. The politics will take care of itself. So you’ve got to get this stuff done. “
Sununu, who may or may not be considering a run as a Republican for the U.S. Senate seat now held by former Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan.
To return to power, McConnell and the Republicans need to flip the narrow Democratic majority. The Democratic leaders in New Hampshire said Sununu said that, if he decided to run and win, he would go to Washington to support McConnell’s years-long effort to cut Social Security and Medicare.
The New Hampshire Democrats said that such programs would be devastating to the 305,150 people in New Hampshire who rely on Medicare and the 317,389 Granite Staters who rely on Social Security.
Rosenwald said it is “no surprise” Sununu holds the same political position on these important social welfare programs as McConnell noting that although he agreed to extended Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in 2018 in New Hampshire, he imposed a work requirement.
“So he was really trying to kick, like 20,000 Granite Staters off expanded Medicaid,” she said.
Wallner said these are programs that help some of the most vulnerable residents of the state; the elderly who worked their entire lives and put money into the Social Security system and deserve their support systems to be maintained.
Buckley noted that during the interview with Josh Holmes, he noted that he was begged 27 times to run for Senate.
The Democratic leader said privatizing Social Security would be a losing strategy but the interview was just one more indication that he thinks Sununu is inching closer to a run.
He also noted that being such a presence as a potential Senate candidate on talk shows is making it hard for any other Republican candidate to jump in and get any traction.
Buckley noted it is not uncommon for candidates to wait until later in the fall to decide but it appears now he is essentially blocking any other potential candidate on the GOP side from jumping in.
McConnell has a long record of trying to gut Medicare and Social Security. McConnell led Republican efforts to pass a budget that would “essentially end Medicare by turning it into the voucher program” and he also led on other budgets that would cut the program by hundreds of billions of dollars.
McConnell fought to privatize Social Security, and said that Republicans’ failure to enact drastic changes to these programs has been the “biggest disappointment of [his] time in Congress.”
Buckley said Holmes was McConnell’s former Chief of Staff and former campaign manager.
“Chris Sununu made it clear that he supports Mitch McConnell’s long-held goal of eviscerating the programs, and if he were to go down to Washington D.C., he’d help McConnell every step of the way.
“The fact that Sununu voiced these plans to McConnell consultants should also make crystal clear why Mitch McConnell wants Sununu to run for Senate,” he said.