GOP Gov. Chris Sununu says Trump isn't 'bringing that fire' people saw in 2016 and predicts he won't win New Hampshire's primary

• GOP Gov. Chris Sununu predicted Sunday that Trump won't win the Republican New Hampshire primary.
• Sununu said the former President wasn't "bringing that fire" people saw in 2016 election.

New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu said former President Donald Trump seems to be lacking the spark that propelled him to victory in 2016.

During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Sununu told journalist Dana Bash he thinks Trump's campaign has had a lot of "stumbling blocks."

He also criticized Trump's recent campaign stop in the state and predicted Trump wouldn't win the Republican primary there.

"The response we received was that he read his teleprompter, he stuck to the talking points," Sununu said. "He's not really bringing that fire, that energy, I think that a lot of folks saw it in '16. I think that in many ways it was a little disappointing to some folks."

Sununu has long been critical of the former president. After publicly rejecting a US Senate run, the governor is being closely watched for any possible presidential aspirations. Sununu previously said both Trump and a mixture of bad candidates contributed to an overall disappointing showing in the midterm elections.

"They were bad candidates because they had a bad message, right?" Sununu previously told The New York Times. "Often they made Trump a part of their message. And that just isn't what voters wanted."

New Hampshire Republicans put forth a more Trump-friendly slate of candidates only to watch Democrats repeat their sweep of federal offices. Don Bolduc, a retired Army general who questioned the outcome of the 2020 election, lost by nearly double digits to Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in a race that was expected to be far closer.

Other influential Republicans are also casting doubt on Trump's 2024 campaign. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who may run again, has suggested the former president "can't win a general election."

Recent polls have shown Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of Trump in certain critical states ahead of the 2024 GOP primary.

Trump took aim at DeSantis' potential run for the GOP presidential nomination, telling Politico it would be "very disloyal."

He also dismissed polls showing DeSantis ahead of him.

"He won't be leading, I got him elected," Trump said. "I'm the one that chose him."