Five Things You Should Know About Chris Pappas’s Trump-Backed Opponent John Sununu

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Yesterday, former Senator John Sununu became New Hampshire’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee after riding the coattails of Donald Trump’s endorsement and his family’s last name. With eight weeks to go until election day, here are five things you should know about John Sununu:

1. Sununu is Running for Senate to “Protect” Donald Trump’s “Gains.”

John Sununu welcomed Donald Trump’s endorsement and said he would “absolutely” campaign with him. Following the endorsement, Sununu could not name even a single instance where he disagrees with Trump. 

Sununu called this Senate race “important to President Trump’s agenda and to the successes that have been made in Washington” and said he is running for Senate to “protect those gains” that Trump and Republicans have made in Washington. 

Public polling shows Trump has a -25 net approval rating among Granite Staters due to his highly unpopular and costly agenda that will drag Sununu down as he runs to sell Granite Staters out to Trump and his corporate special interest backers.

2. Sununu Supports Trump’s Big Ugly Bill That Made Devastating Cuts to Health Care in New Hampshire. 

John Sununu supports Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, saying Republicans “did the right thing,” even though the bill shuttered a health care center in Franconia and is ripping health care away from tens of thousands of Granite Staters just to give tax breaks to the ultrawealthy. 

Sununu’s support for Trump’s devastating health care cuts is just the latest in a history of supporting slashing Granite Staters’ health care. In office, he repeatedly voted to cut Medicaid and Medicare, attacked the Affordable Care Act, and proposed a health care plan that could let insurance companies deny coverage for Granite Staters with pre-existing conditions. 

Sununu even told Granite Staters to “stop complaining about health care.” 

3. Sununu Supports Trump’s War With Iran That’s Boosting His Own Profits While Raising Granite Staters’ Gas Prices. 

John Sununu has “expressed support for” and “has been defending” Donald Trump’s highly unpopular war with Iran that surged the value of Sununu’s Big Oil stocks by 24 percent. 

While New Hampshire families and small businesses have been forced to pay skyhigh prices at the gas pump, Sununu has been “cheering on” Trump’s war and accepted more than $80,000 in campaign contributions from energy executives. 

4. Sununu Was a “Leading Figure in the Effort” to Privatize Social Security.

While in office, John Sununu was a “leading figure in the effort” to privatize Social Security, repeatedly introducing legislation that would have enriched Wall Street while directly exposing Granite Staters’ retirement accounts to stock market crashes and wild swings. 

Sununu supports Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Bill that accelerated the timeline for Social Security to become insolvent, which could affect the hundreds of thousands of Granite Staters who rely on its benefits. While in Congress, Sununu co-sponsored a bill that was forecast to make Social Security insolvent seven years earlier than had been predicted at the time. 

5. Sununu Voted to Help Corporate Special Interests, Then Cashed In and Made Up To $35 Million While Granite Staters Paid the Price.  

In office, John Sununu voted to serve the interests of Wall Street, Big Pharma, and Big Oil — then cashed in with those same industries as his net worth surged by up to $35 million. Sununu voted to give Wall Street a $700 billion taxpayer bailout, then got paid by a company propped up by billions in bailout funds, but Granite Staters were left to face rising foreclosures. 

Sununu helped Big Pharma maximize their profits by repeatedly voting against allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices — including casting a tie-breaking vote in the Senate — leaving Granite State seniors to pay more in out-of-pocket costs. He then spent nearly a decade cashing in at a top lobbying firm that was paid more than $10 million by its Big Pharma clients, including to stop efforts to lower prescription drug prices.

While oil companies raked in record profits, Sununu blocked efforts to protect Americans from gas price gouging and left Granite Staters with spiking gas prices, then cashed in at a Washington firm that made millions from Big Oil. 

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