Republican debate: Trump hits Sununu after New Hampshire governor criticizes him for not debating

Former President Donald Trump attacked Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) as being in “Never Never Land” shortly after the governor criticized the former president for skipping the first Republican presidential debate.

Sununu said Trump will ultimately regret not participating in the first GOP debate on Wednesday night. His comments came while speaking on Fox News’s Your World with Neil Cavuto on Tuesday.

REPUBLICAN DEBATE: RNC ANNOUNCES THE EIGHT GOP 2024 CONTENDERS WHO MADE THE CUT

“I honestly think he’s gonna regret it, I really do. You can’t say I’m going to lead the free world and not be willing to get up and talk to those who are going to challenge you and want the job. You can’t really do that. It’s not fair to the system. It’s not doing respect to the voters and your base,” Sununu said.

He also predicted that Trump will only skip “one or two debates” and that he will eventually debate but that it will appear as if he was “forced onstage” once he eventually debates.

“My sense is maybe he skips one or maybe even two. He won’t be able to skip more than that without a hit in his polls and a hit to his ego. Let’s face it, he’s not one to watch a bunch of people on television tear him apart and sit in the back room. I think it’s gonna get to him, and then he’s gonna kinda be forced onstage and that’s going to look weak ’cause it’s gonna look like he was forced there,” Sununu said.

“So I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but I don’t see it getting any better for him,” he added.

Shortly after Sununu’s appearance on Fox News, Trump posted on Truth Social. He wrote that the New Hampshire governor “didn’t have the courage” to enter the Republican presidential primary, and he is stuck in “never, never land.”

“I was beating ‘Governor’ Chris Sununu in his home State, New Hampshire, by so much, almost 50 Points, that he didn’t have the courage to run. He’s a selfish guy who should have run for the Senate, but now he’s stuck in never, never land, lonely and virtually unelectable!” Trump posted.

Trump was leading Sununu in New Hampshire in hypothetical polling before the New Hampshire governor confirmed he would not run for president. An April poll from the University of New Hampshire showed Trump at 42%, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) at 22%, and Sununu at 12%.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Sununu does have a better electoral record in the Granite State than Trump, with the New Hampshire governor winning his statewide elections in 2016 and 2020, while Trump lost the presidential elections in the state in both of those years. While both of Trump’s New Hampshire losses were narrow, Sununu won narrowly in 2016 but won in a nearly 32% landslide in 2020.

Trump confirmed on Sunday that he will not participate in the first Republican presidential primary debate, but he did tease on Tuesday that he will be “VERY BUSY TOMORROW NIGHT.” The debate on Wednesday begins at 9 p.m. and will be televised by Fox News.