Republicans should focus on criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris' policy record rather than making personal attacks against her during the presidential election campaign, New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu told ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday.
Sununu, who has previously said that fellow Republicans should "stick to the issues, stick with unity, stick with positivity" during this campaign, said Donald Trump is "missing" an opportunity, but he is still hopeful the campaign "can get back on track" after the former president this past week called Harris "a lunatic" and a "threat to democracy."
Sununu said Trump "was on track for a couple months there. I think that the change in the campaign has kind of fired him up to go against, against a person personally."
"You have to stop the personal attacks," he said. "We have too much that we can win on, when it comes to issues and policies: the border issue, the inflation issue. These are some very real issues."
Since President Joe Biden announced he was stepping down from the 2024 race and endorsed Harris, the vice president has seen a swell of support in the past week, including receiving major party endorsements and getting $200 million in contributions, according to her campaign.
While some Republican leaders have focused on criticisms of her record from her time as a senator and California attorney general, others have chosen to make attacks based on Harris' race and gender, such as calling her a "DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] vice president" or "a DEI hire."
Sununu said criticisms like that are "not helpful at all."
"Sticking to the issues is too good of an opportunity for Republicans, both nationally and statewide," he said. "People want a change. They want some sort of disruption.
"They're tired of the ... elitism — the wokeism and elitism and the liberalism coming out of the ... country."
Sununu also said he did not have any concerns about Sen. J.D. Vance as Trump's vice presidential pick, but said that Ohio Republican's "childless cat ladies" remark is "not helpful."
The governor added that such personal attacks might alienate part of the independent voter block that the GOP is looking to attract.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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