Marco Rubio is on a roll with his third place victory in the Iowa caucus — but now he quickly needs to figure out how to harness his power to push ahead of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu tells
Newsmax TV.
"They got to figure out how they're going to handle the Rubio momentum coming in here," Sununu said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
"Rubio has to figure out how to use it constructively to build up a little head way as he goes into South Carolina. This is going to be not only a campaign, but a little bit of a chess game as they move forward."
Watch Newsmax TV on
DirecTV Ch. 349, DISH Ch. 223 and
Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system —
Click Here Now
Sununu, who served as chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, believes Rubio now has a "huge advantage" after surging to around one point behind Trump’s second place — 24 to 23 percent — but "what he has to do is figure out how to utilize it in a smart way."
Sununu said apart from Rubio, he also sees Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — all three of whom scored in the low single digits — have what it takes as presidential timber.
"I personally think those four candidates have to understand that the most important thing they can do here is to stand up to both Cruz and Trump head-to-head in the process here," he said, noting that the upcoming eighth GOP debate in Manchester, N.H., will serve as their proving ground.
"There's a big debate on Saturday and they got to demonstrate then that they want to be part of this top tier by taking on the top tier," Sununu told Malzberg.
Sununu is author of the book,
"The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush," published by Broadside.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.