Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu slammed Donald trump as a “loser” after the billionaire real estate mogul took a swing at him.
“He’s been a loser all his life,” Sununu, a Republican, said of Trump in an interview with ABC News Wednesday.
The kerfuffle started earlier this week when GOP presidential front-runner Trump called into “Good Morning America” to discuss his second-place performance in Monday’s Iowa caucuses.
ABC News Announces New Hampshire Republican Debate Candidate Lineup New Hampshire Polls Show Marco Rubio Climbing After Iowa Caucuses“I did well in Iowa, by all accounts,” Trump said. “I came in second and there are ten people that didn’t.”
“GMA” co-anchor George Stephanopoulos then read Trump a Sununu quote from The New York Times, which said, “I think Trump’s loss will remind people that the guy has a history of losses.”
Trump dismissed Sununu’s quote as a “ridiculous attack,” calling the GOP elder statesman a “main loser.”
Sununu, former chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, told ABC News that Trump’s response “shows he’s thin skinned.”
“I pointed out that he’s been a loser all his life,” Sununu, 76, said less than a week before his state's primary. “He’s had four big bankruptcies. Trump Airlines went bankrupt, Trump Magazines shut down, Trump Steaks went out of business, and when he was the owner of New Jersey Generals, they also went out business. This guy has a history of failure and losing. He’s a perpetual loser.”
Sununu, who served as chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party from 2009 to 2011, has not endorsed a candidate in the primary. But he acknowledged Trump’s national appeal.
“Voters across the country are angry,” Sununu said. “Sometimes, folks are blind to a candidate’s substance and pay attention to fancy style and hot rhetoric.”