ABC This Week host George Stephanopoulos closes out his interviews of Republicans with a unique bit of sanctimony- the question of whether they’d support former President Donald Trump in the event of a conviction in one of the myriad indictments against him. And it is one of the loudest Trump opponents in this primary cycle who finally took that question and threw it back in Stephanopoulos’ face.
Watch as New Hampshire Governor and former Nikki Haley surrogate Chris Sununu closes his interview with Stephanopoulos by informing him that the average American regards the Trump indictments as “reality TV” and is largely tuning the lawfare out:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: …you said in the past that he should drop out if he’s convicted in the classified documents case. Do you still believe that?
CHRIS SUNUNU: No. What- he’s gonna drop out after being the nominee? Of course, not, you know, that’s not to be expected at all. All of these cases by the way, the average American, it’s all conflated, right? We watch this stuff. We watch the details. The average American sees it more as reality TV. I’m not saying there’s not real issues to bear there, of course there are. But there’s clearly politics to bear in some of these cases. That is undeniable. The average American just thinks it’s more reality TV and prosecution of him at this point. He plays that victim card very, very well. His poll numbers only go up with this stuff, so to think of this as some sort of deal breaker- again, I’ll go back to where I started, where people are going to say,” yup, if he’s convicted, I’m walking away.” That’s just not going to happen. At the end of the day, they want that culture change of the Republican Party, and if we have to have Trump as the standard bearer- and the voters decided that’s what they wanted, not what I wanted, but what the voters- the Republican votes wanted- if he’s going to be the standard bearer of that, we’ll take it if we have to. That’s how badly America wants a culture change.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So just to sum up, you would support him for president even if he was convicted in classified documents. You would support him for president, even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection. You support him for president even though you believe he’s lying about the last election, you support him for president even if he’s convicted in the Manhattan case. I just want to say- the answer to that is yes, correct?
SUNUNU: Yeah, me and 51% of America.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor, thanks for your time this morning.
A Republican governor endorsing the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee is a dog-bites-man story, notwithstanding the fact that the aforementioned governor was the chief surrogate of the eventual nominee’s last rival standing. This happens all the time. But Stephanopoulos framed his Sununu interview with a brief on the upcoming Stormy Daniels trial. The interview thus became less about Sununu’s endorsement of Trump than about Stephanopoulos’ sanctimony.
This constant hectoring went on for nearly 11 minutes: Stephanopoulos trying to shame Sununu over his endorsement of Trump despite past statements and denunciations, and Sununu batting each attempt away. The most emblematic exchange of the interview has Sununu telling Stephanopoulos that he lives in a bubble- and telling him outright that the J6 stuff doesn’t matter to voters confronting a broader assortment of suck that includes such items as inflation and the border:
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you believe that someone — you believe that a president who contributed to an insurrection should be president again?
SUNUNU: As does 51% of America, George. I mean, really. I understand you’re part of the media. I understand you’re in this New York City bubble or whatever it is, but you gotta look around at what’s happening across this country. They’re not- it’s not about just supporting Trump. It’s getting rid of what we have today. It’s about understanding that inflation is crushing families. It’s understanding this border issue is not a Texas issue. It’s a 50-state issue, right?- that has to be brought under control. It’s about that type of elitism that the average American is just sick and tired of. And it’s a culture change. That’s what I’m supporting. That’s what most of America right now is looking to support, and wants to change there. So, again, I know you’re shocked that the Republican governor is supporting a Republican president and a Republican ticket, but it’s about the ticket. It’s about up and down the ballot, right? I want Republican governors and senators and congressmen, and that type of culture if you will, I keep going back to that, because that’s exactly what it is, that’s the change America is looking for, and not relitigating January 6th. It’s not a top issue.
Stephanopoulos had no answer. That it is Sununu making these points makes it even more significant because the elite media cannot dismiss him as they would someone perhaps considered to be more of a Trump loyalist.
And this fundamental truth remains: the media are locked in a bubble, and are fundamentally out of touch with the American people.