On Tuesday's CNN This Morning, Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH) was subjected to the kind of debate that conservative guests typically experience on CNN as co-host Don Lemon complained about New Hampshire's gun-friendly laws. Co-host Poppy Harlow even went so far as to try to credit strict gun laws in neighboring blue states for New Hampshire's low homicide rate.
After the segment was introduced with a clip of Governor Sununu speaking at the NRA convention from the weekend, Lemon jumped in at the beginning of the interview to challenge him for giving the speech. Lemon scrutinized: "Can I just ask you the first question? ... Why would you speak at the NRA? Why did you speak there?"
After Sununu defended his appearance at the convention, Lemon further pressed the Republican:
Are you concerned about alienating voters that you may -- especially the independents that you were talking about there -- by speaking at the NRA convention when you see what's happening with gun violence across the country?
Lemon then charged that "you haven't been very good on gun rights" as he followed up again, leading the New Hampshire Governor to respond: "I think we've been great on gun rights actually."
The CNN host then used the liberal language of "sensible gun laws" as he fretted that gun control was being blocked in the Granite State:
Okay, it's, well, basically, in 2020, you signed a law -- it was House Bill 1178 -- that basically hamstrung people who were trying to create sensible gun laws in your state, so I'm just wondering if you have no concern about sensible gun laws...
After Lemon reiterated his complaint, Harlow jumped in to change the subject, but also made a lame attempt to credit gun control in blue states -- presumably meaning New York and Massachusetts -- in making New Hampshire safer:
I will note that one of the arguments some may disagree with you on gun laws make is that a lot of the states that surround New Hampshire have stricter gun laws. They say that that is part of the reason that you have fewer gun deaths in the state.
In the same vein, the liberal news network also has a history of trying to blame pro-gun Indiana for crime in the more anti-gun Illinois.
By contrast, just last week, when anti-gun Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) appeared on the show, the anchors actively helped him promote his agenda.
This episode of CNN This Morning was sponsored in part by ClearChoice. Their contact information is linked. Let them know what you think of CNN's consistent promotion of the left's agenda.
Transcript follows:
CNN This Morning
April 18, 2023
7:22 a.m. EasternDON LEMON: Can I just ask you the first question? (looks at co-host Poppy Harlow) Do you mind? (looks back at Governor Chris Sununu) Why would -- why would you speak at the NRA? Why did you speak there?
GOVERNOR CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): Why would I speak at the NRA?
LEMON: Yeah.
SUNUNU: Well, there's 80,000 individuals there. I mean, why not speak at the NRA? When you have the opportunity to go and stand in front of thousands of people and talk about the record of success in New Hampshire -- not just in terms of firearm laws and all that, but where we want to take the party. Obviously, there's a lot of Republicans at the NRA. Obviously, I'm very strongly considering running for President.
So there's a voter base out there, and I think there's a big message that has to be told that isn't being told enough, which is: How do we get bigger? How do we make this party bigger? How do we bring that just disenfranchised voter back on the team? We lost pretty big in 2022 -- I don't care what folks say -- 49 U.S. Senators is not enough, and we've lost some governorships that we probably should have won. So I'm trying to make the team bigger, and any opportunity to talk to them.
LEMON: Are you concerned about alienating voters that you may -- especially the independents that you were talking about there -- by speaking at the NRA convention when you see what's happening with gun violence across the country?
SUNUNU: No, look, it's very easy to politically conflate the NRA and gun violence and mass shootings and all this -- I get it. Look, I'm a governor. A mass shooting -- no one is immune. Mass shootings and these issues could happen at any point in time. But when you look at New Hampshire's record of success, we're one of the most successful when it comes to the Second Amendment and firearms regulations, and yet we're still one of the safest states in the country.
It's not just about the gun laws and just about passing more laws and patting ourselves on the back and trying to take a win. That's not what gets it done. You got to deal with mental health issues. You got to deal with the core of those issues on violence. And I think, again, it's very easy to get caught up in that political discussion. Some of the places with the most restrictive gun laws in the country have the highest rates of gun violence. So you can't -- cannot make that direct correlation.
LEMON: Have you -- would you consider -- because in your state, you haven't been very good on gun rights. There's a lot of blame going around.
SUNUNU: I think we've been great on gun rights actually.
LEMON: Okay, it's, well, basically, in 2020, you signed a law -- it was House Bill 1178 -- that basically hamstrung people who were trying to create sensible gun laws in your state, so I'm just wondering if you have no concern about -- ?
SUNUNU: Oh, of course, we have concern about --
LEMON: -- about sensible gun laws and --
SUNUNU: Of course. Let's talk about -- let's say, a red flag law. Okay, let's take a place like Chicago. They're one of the most restrictive red flag laws in the country. They have some of the highest rates of gun violence. I think a red flag law has been implemented less than a dozen times in the last couple of years. So it's easy to say, "Yeah, we'll just, you know, take the guns from those with mental illness," but it's much harder to actually implement. The realities of that are much more ---
LEMON: It's not just about changing gun laws. This is what I'm trying to -- this is House Bill 1178 -- you created a new statute prohibiting any representative of your state or political subdivision from taking action involving any federal firearms law that is "not consistent with your state law," basically hamstringing anyone who wants to create in your state sensible gun legislation to try to get a handle on gun violence.
SUNUNU: No, no, yeah, what we said is if we pass a firearm regulation in the state, we follow the firearms regulation in the state. If Joe Biden wants to pass an executive order taking guns and restricting guns, that's a federal issue. We'll let the feds take care of that. We have our state laws. I'm a big states' rights individual -- states come first. States are much more important, and much more powerful than federal executive orders that are arbitrarily written by the President, so that's exactly what that's saying. So the Feds want to pass laws and rules, then they can take care of that. We'll pass our laws and rules, and we'll take care of that in New Hampshire.
POPPY HARLOW: Um, I want to move onto some other topics as well. I will note that one of the arguments some may disagree with you on gun laws make is that a lot of the states that surround New Hampshire have stricter gun laws. They say that that is part of the reason that you have fewer gun deaths in the state.
