Sununu rattles off disagreements with Trump at New Hampshire town hall

Former Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) rattled off his many disagreements with President Trump at a New Hampshire town hall ahead of the November midterm elections, when he’ll face Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.).

In particular, Sununu criticized the president’s war in Iran and trade conflict with Canada.

When asked if he would be a Republican dissenter against some of Trump’s policies, the former senator said, “You can just start by looking at what I’ve been saying consistently for the last 10 months, we shouldn’t be in a trade war with Canada.”

“I said earlier we shouldn’t have tariffs on building materials. I said it was a mistake to go into Iran without a fixed proposal and plan for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open,” he continued. “I opposed the $5,000 one-time payments that were recently proposed, the $1.8 billion victims fund. So, this has never been an issue for me, because I believe all of those positions sort of reflect the thinking of most of the people in New Hampshire.”

Sununu cited past examples of his break from the Republican party including his opposition against the Patriot Act in 2005 alongside only 5 other Republican senators.

“And if you look back at the issues we raised about these surveillance powers [in the Patriot Act], we were right. They were misused by Republican presidents and Democrat presidents,” he concluded.

Sununu joins other GOP candidates in battleground elections who have distanced themselves from Trump , particularly about the ongoing Iran war . Iowa Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), for example, both called for an end to the conflict earlier this year.

Trump’s popularity in the Granite State also hit an all-time low in September, according to a University of New Hampshire poll , which found 67 percent of respondents disapproved of Trump’s overall job as president. Thirty-two percent approved and 1 percent were unsure.

Sununu is currently trailing Pappas by 5-points, receiving 45 percent backing compared to 50 percent support earned by his Democratic opponent, according to New York Times/Siena polling released in September.

New Hampshire is neither a solidly blue nor red state with its state Legislature flipping between Democratic and Republican control in recent years. It is now led by a Republican , Gov. Kelly Ayotte.