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Governor Chris Sununu’s secretive trip to Kentucky is raising troubling questions about why Sununu abandoned the state of New Hampshire for the day to visit out-of-state hospitals in Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky — instead of focusing on the COVID crisis here in New Hampshire. The visit — which was kept hidden from New Hampshire and Kentucky media until it leaked — “is raising questions about the purpose of the trip” according to In-Depth NH. Seacoast Current ran a headline asking “Why Did NH Gov. Chris Sununu Spend Monday In Kentucky?” and described the Kentucky visit as “Gov. Chris Sununu's Super 502 Day. Or 606 Day.” And the Union Leader noted that New Hampshire Democrats “questioned if Sununu picked Kentucky because it’s the home state of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been leading the Capitol Hill lobbying effort to convince Sununu to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022.” WATCH - WMUR: Chairman Buckley Questions Sununu’s Sudden Trip to McConnell’s Home State of Kentucky
Monica Hernandez: Tonight, New Hampshire Democrats are criticizing the governor’s trip, they say it doesn’t make sense that Sununu chose Kentucky, the home state of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Chairman Buckley: It’s just bizarre that Chris Sununu left the state of New Hampshire you know, for the day, just to go to out-of-state hospitals in Kentucky instead of focusing on the crises here in New Hampshire. It just seems odd to us.
Gov. Chris Sununu’s surprise trip to Kentucky on Monday [...] is raising questions about the purpose of the trip.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley was not buying Sununu’s reasons for going to Kentucky. “Both Memorial Hospital in Conway and Dartmouth-Hitchcock have announced that they are once again taking emergency measures because of the surge in COVID cases,” Buckley said in a statement “Why isn’t Chris Sununu visiting them? Or visiting Vermont and Maine, both rural states that have surpassed New Hampshire in vaccinating their citizens, reducing the risk of COVID surges. Sununu needs to answer serious questions about why he is ditching New Hampshire to travel to Mitch McConnell’s home state.”
Seacoast Current: Why Did NH Gov Chris Sununu Spend Monday in Kentucky?
Call it Gov. Chris Sununu's Super 502 Day. Or 606 Day.
The governor who has spent several days over the summer on what he calls Super 603 Days touring New Hampshire counties spent Monday in Kentucky he said to learn about how the state is handling its COVID-19 delta variant surge.
New Hampshire Democrats said Sununu could have found the same results had he stayed local. "We all know Gov. Chris Sununu loves photo-ops, but traveling to Kentucky is a new one. Seems like he could've saved a few taxpayer dollars and gone to Vermont or Maine. Or even better, how about a phone call," NH Democratic Party tweeted with a graph showing far more new cases in Kentucky over the past seven days than New Hampshire, Vermont or Maine.
Union Leader: Sununu, state COVID-19 team visits Kentucky
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley questioned if Sununu picked Kentucky because it’s the home state of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been leading the Capitol Hill lobbying effort to convince Sununu to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022.
The other U.S. senator from Kentucky is Rand Paul, a 2016 presidential candidate and leading critic of the Biden administration’s support for states or communities that have imposed mask and vaccine mandates.
“Both Memorial Hospital in Conway and Dartmouth-Hitchcock have announced that they are once again taking emergency measures because of the surge in COVID cases. Why isn’t Chris Sununu visiting them, or visiting Vermont and Maine, both rural states that have surpassed New Hampshire in vaccinating their citizens, reducing the risk of COVID surges,” Buckley said.
“Sununu needs to answer serious questions about why he is ditching New Hampshire to travel to Mitch McConnell’s home state.”
Benjamin Vihstadt, Sununu’s communications director, said all state agency officials will file financial disclosure reports about this trip.
The state’s Executive Branch Ethics Code requires the governor, agency heads and all their employees to annually report on the reimbursement of expenses they receive from a private individual while doing government business.
Sununu and other agency heads who’ve already filed an annual report won’t have to report these expenses until next January.