​GOP Senate candidate thrashed over new denial he meant to call Trump a loser

New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate John E. Sununu is already facing his first controversy, immediately after declaring his candidacy this week.

Sununu previously served as New Hampshire's senator until Democrat Jeanne Shaheen unseated him in 2008. With Shaheen retiring next year, her seat is open once more, and Sununu hopes to reclaim his old seat against the likely Democratic nominee, Rep. Chris Pappas.

However, hanging over Sununu is just how close he wants to run with President Donald Trump, in a state that has gone from being one of the quintessential swing states to one that reliably votes blue in federal elections like its New England neighbors.

In audio footage obtained by the liberal group American Bridge, Sununu was confronted about an op-ed he wrote last year titled "Donald Trump is a loser." To which he responded, "You're talking about the op-ed? They chose the headline. Look, he won."

Sununu went on to explain that, in context, his op-ed only mentioned Trump in the context of his endorsement of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for the Republican presidential primary.

But that's not true, Courier Newsroom and Granite Post chief political correspondent Colin Booth noted on X.

"Sununu now claiming this op-ed to the Union Leader submitted in January of last year carried a headline he didn’t approve of and was purely in support of Nikki Haley," wrote Booth. "Of the 16 paragraphs that comprise this op-ed, 2 are about Haley, 14 are about Trump being a loser."

Democrats will need to lock down the New Hampshire Senate race to have any pathway to making the majority competitive next year, as almost all pickup opportunities for them on the map start out favoring Republicans.