Katy Tur Grills Sununu for Saying He’d Back Trump as the Nominee: ‘Do You Not Think January 6th Was a Big Deal?’

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) is very excited to be pushing for former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary — very, very excited! But MSNBC’s Katy Tur wanted him to address the actual GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, and his promise to support him if he’s the nominee even if he’s convicted of a crime.

During her Tuesday show, Tur was happy to let Sununu build up Haley and her momentum in his home state’s upcoming primary, but once she started pushing him on Trump, he became less enthusiastic and turned the conversation back towards Haley:

Tur: Do you think it was a mistake to come out and say, “I’m going to vote for Donald Trump if he’s the nominee. I’m going to vote for him, even if he’s convicted in a in a criminal courtroom”? Do you think that was a mistake that maybe undermines the enthusiasm for Nikki Haley?

Sununu: No, no, no. The point there is very clear. If folks think that something, some external factor is going to take Trump down, the court cases are going to come to bear, and then he’s really in trouble, that is not happening, guys. That is a hypothetical. It is not happening. You beat Donald Trump at the ballot box. You beat Donald Trump by getting out the vote. It happens right here in New Hampshire.

I want people to know not to sit apathetically, waiting for someone else to beat Donald Trump. It has to be about getting behind Nikki Haley and taking that path. And when you have a leadership like hers that can win, this is all about charging people up to get out the vote. And yes, Donald Trump, would he be in a nailbiter race with [President] Joe Biden at this point? To be sure, Nikki Haley would win by 10, 15 points, and win Republican seats up and down the ballot. That’s why people get so excited about her here in New Hampshire.

That was all well and good, but Tur steered him back:

Tur: A lot of people that think he’s a threat to democracy, and Nikki Haley says chaos follows him. He’s a chaotic president who wasn’t effective. But I wonder when you say that you’re going to vote for him anyway? Are you telling those voters that he’s not a threat to democracy, that it doesn’t matter that much, that chaos following him is fine, because ultimately, if he’s, if he’s the nominee, I’m going to vote for him to be president. It’s going to be totally okay. Is that undermining the argument for Nikki Haley?

Sununu: No, because look, that’s the general election. We’re focused on the primary, right? The realities of the general election are the realities, Joe Biden is that bad of a president, has done that bad of a job, that even someone with all the chaos and drama of Donald Trump would actually potentially have a shot. We’re getting behind Nikki Haley because it comes with a mandate, because it comes with leadership, because it comes with — and without, I should say, the chaos, the drama, all the all the crazy things. It’s putting all of this stuff behind us. No one wants to see Trump-Biden on that ticket. I mean, it’s America’s worst nightmare right now.

After Sununu continued to try pushing the idea that no one needs to think about the general election at all right now and they can ignore the overwhelming support Trump currently has in the Republican party, support that will undoubtedly crown him as the nominee in November, Tur asked him a blunt question:

Tur: Do you not think January 6th was a big deal?

Sununu: Well, of course it was. No, absolutely. Of course it was. The election night on January 6th. But understand something, when it comes to the Republican primary, those issues do not really come to bear in the Republican primary for the voters. They just don’t. They’re way down on the list of priorities.

People want to know the border is going to be secure. They want to know that inflation is going to be taken care of. They want to know there’s going to be fiscal responsibility, and they’re going to treat their tax dollars with respect, which nobody in Washington has done for a long time. Those are the issues driving. January 6th and Election Day are not key issues on the Republican voters’ mind right now.

Watch the video above via MSNBC.