Republican former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu said Thursday that Donald Trump is growing "as a Republican" who understands the key issues — the need to repeal Obamacare, reform the tax code, and rollback overregulation.
In an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" interview, the former chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush said he supports Trump and believes the real estate tycoon can beat Hillary Clinton. "Republicans are coming home," he predicted, as recent polls tighten nationally and in some battleground states with five days to the election.
Sununu's endorsement of Trump goes against Bush 41, who reportedly plans to vote for Hillary Clinton. "They carry a lot of personal attacks out of the primary," he said of the Bushes, referring to Trump's attacks on Jeb Bush.
Sununu said he didn't always support Trump. He said he was unsure in the primary, recalling how he gave the eventual-GOP nominee a "hard time." But he's come to believe Trump has the temperament and the intellect to be president. "Generally, [Trump's] instincts align with mine," he said.
He said Trump has stayed on message in the final days of the campaign, and it's paid off.
In the swing state of New Hampshire, a new poll by Boston public radio station WBUR shows Trump ahead of Clinton by 1 percentage point, well within the plus or minus 4.4 percentage point margin of error.
The survey was conducted from Saturday to Tuesday, after Friday's FBI bombshell of renewed interest in Clinton's emails. The previous poll, on Oct. 10-12, had Clinton up 3 points.
Sununu cited the poll as a positive for Trump, but warned against any expectation of a "smoking gun" before Tuesday in the Clinton email investigation.
As patriarch, Sununu has seen his sons follow in his footsteps, with Chris Sununu currently running for governor and John E. Sununu having served as a U.S. senator and congressman.