John Sununu — whom Donald Trump has insinuated is unintelligent — fired back on Monday, calling the billionaire developer and Republican presidential front-runner a "lefty liberal" who's "thin-skinned" and "all mouth."
In an explosive interview with
Newsmax TV's Steve Malzberg, the former New Hampshire governor who also served as chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, lashed out at Trump's nose-thumbing barb which was
reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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"Can you believe this guy? He was fired like a dog and he doesn't even realize it," Trump said of Sununu.
"That's funny coming from a guy who's got four major billion-dollar bankruptcies," Sununu retorted referring to financial problems several of Trump's companies had years ago.
"He screwed his stock holders. As the bankers put him into bankruptcy they said 'Donald Trump, you're fired. You're fired like a bear.' To use his words, they fired him like a dog! He downplays this, but these are four major billion dollar, multi-billion dollar bankruptcies.
"It's funny that he's referring to anybody else's situation. I did not, by the way, get fired by the president. I moved on because I wanted the lightning to follow me out."
Sununu acknowledged Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner is doing very well on the campaign trail with his "hot rhetoric" but said the mogul is no conservative.
Sununu added, "he has no substance, he has no plan, he's all mouth, he's thin-skinned. Trump likes to brag that he can't be bought because he's so rich.
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin proved [Trump is] the cheapest guy in politics today with 10 cents worth of flattery. Putin had him sucked up all the way. This is a guy that you can't have as commander in chief."
Sununu also dismissed the hay Trump is making over whether his chief rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is eligible to be president since he was born in Canada.
"Trump is out trying to knock anybody who's nipping at his tails. He's picking on Cruz with something that he's just trying to stir up the pot. Cruz is fine," Sununu insisted.
But he said he couldn't call the upcoming Iowa caucuses.
"I don't know. Iowa's a very difficult state to predict. Ted Cruz will hold it out there and when Trump comes into town and the New Hampshire voters do what I hope they always do and that is start looking at substance, they'll see that Trump is no conservative," Sununu said.
"All his life he's been a lefty liberal, he supports Obamacare, he's all for eminent domain, he has told us he's very pro-life even on immigration. This guy has been a lifelong liberal on immigration and now he's a conservative all of a sudden?
"He criticized Mitt Romney for being tough on immigration and said that Mitt Romney was going to lose the Latino vote because he was so tough on immigration. This guy's a phony. I hope the voters will begin to see that."
Sununu said his son, former Sen. John E. Sununu, is supporting Kasich but declined to say if he was as well.
Sununu is author of
"The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush," published by Broadside Books.
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