A new dynamic in the presidential race with Donald Trump's felony conviction. What will independent voters think? The voters that Nikki Haley is still earning in Republican primaries. My next guest backed her over Trump in those primaries. Joining me now is New Hampshire Republican Governor, Chris Sununu. Governor, thank you so much for being here.

You bet.

So Donald Trump is now a convicted felon. Are you comfortable voting for him in November?

Oh, sure. Apparently, according to the polls, most of America is. I mean, the polls this morning still have them up to point. So the reality is that this isn't really moving people's decision. A majority of people say it doesn't really matter. I think there's a small percentage that say it'll make them more likely in a small percentage said it'll make them less likely to vote for them. But in the end, it's a wash, and it's early June, right? So this is just the first step of this process with his legal troubles. But we have two more debates. We have the conventions. We got a long way to go to November. We're, and this is going to be well into the rear view mirror in terms of the voters, those independent voters and where they go.

But do you find it troubling at all?

Well, look, I don't want my nominee to be convicted of anything, of course. I worked as hard as anybody other than maybe Nikki Haley, of course, to make sure he wasn't the nominee because I think we had a lot better choices. But he is going to be the Republican nominee of the party. People in America want change. They do. This is how bad Joe Biden is. The fact that regardless of what happens in the courthouse, it looks like Joe Biden is going to lose. He doesn't deliver results. Inflation is real. The border is real. Public safety and the lack thereof, and especially in a lot of these major cities, is real. I mean, Donald Trump is within single digits in New York at this point. Never mind the swing states, even in New York, they're making a run at winning New York. It's up to the voters, and that's democracy. The voters are saying, We want to change.

So speaking of the voters, Nikki Haley, who you, of course, endorse, worked very, very hard for. During the time when she was still in, you guys were still a team, she said this about what Americans would do following a conviction watch.

There is no way that the American people are going to vote for a convicted criminal. They're not.

Do you think she's wrong?

Yeah, apparently. Apparently, we were both wrong on that one. I think the issue there is it's not just that he's convicted. Everyone wants to steal the label, which Which exists today. But when you look at what happened, the extent the prosecution had to go to, to line up these dominoes, to bring a conviction on charges that had never been brought against anybody in the state of New York, ever. I mean, Representative Schiff said the judge should impose the penalty as any other case like this would be imposed. It's never happened before. It's never even happened.

So do you not accept the jury's verdict?

And you see the bias in the judge. Look, the jury did their job. I don't think many people should be complaining about the jury. They did their job. But the fact that they had to go to such extents to push a case that was clearly politically driven with a judge that had previously shown political bias and changing the rules at the last minute. I mean, even on this very network, your own legal analysts have said, There's so many ways that this thing is going to be appealed. This is not over by any stretch. And I think it's a real problem, the fact that they're going to commit sentencing right before the convention. That's a terrible idea. I mean, that is a terrible idea. That's going to do nothing but rile everybody up. It's going to look even more political than it is now and just cast a shadow of a doubt on this entire case.

You say rile everybody up. You heard what the former President said. The congressman, Schiff, seemed to say he thought the President was suggesting there would be violence. How did you read it? When you say rile up, does that mean violence?

Well, no. Nobody wants violence, of course.

I'm not saying you wanted violence, but I was asking what are you saying that's going to happen? No.

Oh, I think there'll be lots of protests. You'll see folks coming out in droves trying to show their support for the former President. No, I think you're just going to see it's a heated election year. You're going to see a lot of folks come out on both sides, of course. But at the end At the end of the day, those independent voters that decide where this goes, that are going to come out, they're not going to be looking at this in terms of who the next President is. They want change. And from my point of view, all I'm trying to bring folks nationally is an understanding of what's happening on the ground and why. And Inflation is real, public security is real, border crisis is real, all of these things. There's chaos internationally. These things line up, and those are the priorities of a lot of folks right now.

Let me ask you about what the co-chair of the RNC just said about Larry Hogan, the Republican nominee for Senate in Maryland. She said, he, quote, doesn't deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party. Do you respect Larry Hogan?

Of course. That This is a bad statement by Laura, without a doubt. We want him to win the Senate race. He was a great governor of Maryland. He's talking to his constituents in his base, and I hope everyone in Maryland goes out and votes for him because he's just a great guy. He really is. We might not agree on everything politically. Sometimes I don't agree with his statements. I'm sure he doesn't always agree with mine, but he was a great governor of Maryland, and I have no doubt he's going to be a great senator of Maryland.

All right. And finally, sir, will you accept the results of the 2024 presidential election, regardless of who wins?

Of course. Yeah. You know why? Because even when we have recounts, even when there's questions on individual states, we get the right result, right? 2020 Biden won. We got the right result. There was a peaceful transfer of power. As bad as January sixth was, come January 20th, Joe Biden was sleeping in the White House, and he had earned it. He had earned those votes. But come 2024, again, my guess is either side, you'll have recounts and questions in here and there. We just know that's probably going to happen, but we'll work through it in those two months. And I have no doubt that the winner will be in the White House on January 20th.

Some of these vice presidential prospects have not been willing to be as straightforward as you were just there about accepting the results. Do you think they should be more straightforward?

On something like election integrity, I think you got to be very straightforward. I do. And I don't know who's saying what and who was vying to be vice president and all that. That's a bunch of nonsense to me. I'm looking at what's happening on the ground. I want America to be in a better place. And you got to make sure that the election is held true. Each state manages their own process in terms of recoups and all of that. Each state got through a tough time in 2020, but got it right. At the end of the day, Republicans and Democrats figured it out and made sure that the results were verified. And I have no doubt that's going to happen again in '24.

All right. Chris Sunu, governor, very grateful for your time today. Thanks very much for being with us.

You bet. Thanks.