Chris Sununu says Nikki Haley has 'only kept surging,' can win the South Carolina primary

WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu argued in an interview Monday that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has the momentum to win the South Carolina primary against ex-President Donald Trump next month.

“Nikki can win South Carolina,” Sununu said in an interview on NewsNation. “I mean, the fact that she went from what…single digits in Iowa — 20% there. Forty-five percent or so here in New Hampshire, just skyrocketed everyone out of the race.”

Sununu also dismissed a recent poll pointed out by NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Prann that shows Trump leading Haley 60% to 29% in the South Carolina GOP primary.

“South Carolina has a very low turnout - voter turnout. So they have an opportunity to turn out a lot of those conservative base voters - those Republican voters who haven’t voted before, who appreciate what Nikki has brought to the table,” he said.

“So there’s a lot of opportunity to go, there’s a lot of campaigning to go and again, she’s only kept surging and surging and surging. So you know, ‘polls, schmolls,’ I mean, really like nobody cares about the polls, they just care about the final result,” he added.

Despite not placing first in the Iowa Caucus or New Hampshire primary, Haley told NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday that she doesn’t ‘necessarily’ need to win the South Carolina primary to keep her campaign running.

“I need to show that I’m building momentum," Haley said. "I don't think that necessarily has to be a win, but it certainly has to be better than what I did in New Hampshire."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chris Sununu says Nikki Haley can win the South Carolina primary