New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for trying to tackle “wokeness” and fix “a cultural issue” on Wednesday (Watch below).
Sununu has been critical of both former President Donald Trump and DeSantis in the past year. He gave backed DeSantis’ opinion on “wokeness” during a CNN interview, but said it’s not the Florida Republican’s job to address it.
″I think he’s absolutely right that the wokeness is really invading this culture in a very negative way,” Sununu said.
“Now, where we might disagree is should the government come in and fix woke? Well, the government is never useful at coming in and fixing a cultural issue.”
Sununu, who said last week he was open to running for president, told anchor Erin Burnett that he thinks the government shouldn’t “be here trying to fix everything.”
“I think we have to attack [wokeness] in America, but I’m a free market guy,” he said. “If a business wants to be woke, I don’t agree with it — I completely disagree with it. But it’s not up for the government to come in and punish a business or penalize a business.”
He added: “Because now you’re setting a precedent for Democrats to come in. And when they take the reins of leadership to penalize a business for being too conservative, that’s crossing a very, very slippery slope.”
DeSantis, who appears to be positioning himself for a 2024 presidential run, has clashed with Disney, among other companies with interests in Florida, over social policies. His administration is seeking to revoke Disney’s special local governing powers.
Sununu, who has campaign-style ads that appear to be running in Iowa and South Carolina, hasn’t been quiet about a potential 2024 DeSantis run. He told CNN last month that DeSantis might beat Donald Trump in a GOP primary battle.
“I think a lot of Republican governors could be good” presidents, he added.
“Everyone connects with voters differently, right? I mean, I don’t want to speak specifically to Ron, but I have my style, he has his style, everyone’s a little different, every state is different.”