- Republican pollster Frank Luntz said that behind the scenes, GOP leaders are mocking Donald Trump.
- Luntz commented on Gov. Chris Sununu referring to Trump as "crazy" last week.
- "I don't know a single Republican who was surprised by what Sununu said. He said what they were thinking," Luntz said.
GOP pollster Frank Luntz said that Republican lawmakers are privately "laughing at" former President Donald Trump and think of Trump as a "child."
Luntz made these comments to The Daily Beast this week, referencing a joke that Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire made at the annual Gridiron Club dinner. Sununu hit out at Trump at the event, calling the former president "fucking crazy."
"The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I'll say it this way: I don't think he's so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain't getting out!" Sununu said, per Politico.
Luntz weighed in on Sununu's comments, saying: "I don't know a single Republican who was surprised by what Sununu said. He said what they were thinking."
Luntz went on to say that the Republican lawmakers were more than happy to mock Trump in private but would not do so overtly.
"They won't say it [in public], but behind his back, they think he's a child. They're laughing at him. That's what made [Sununu's comments] significant," Luntz said to The Daily Beast.
"Trump isn't the same man he was a year ago," Luntz added, commenting on Trump's influence on the party. "Even many Republicans are tired of going back and rehashing the 2020 election. Everybody else has moved on, and in Washington, everyone believes he lost the election."
Luntz is not be alone in thinking that Trump's hold on the GOP may be weakening; GOP campaign strategist Susan Del Percio said she thought Trump's rallies appeared to be getting smaller, reflecting the former president's waning influence and "shrinking base."
"Donald Trump? Yes, he can bring out those people, but those crowds are getting smaller and people aren't buying into it, mostly because Republicans want to move on. They don't want to talk about the big lie," Del Percio said in an interview on MSNBC this week. "The people of this country don't want to hear about it anymore."
Trump, meanwhile, has been eager to shore up support among his most ardent supporters while continuing to promote baseless claims that the election was stolen from him. Most recently, he rescinded his endorsement of former ally Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama's senate race after Brooks encouraged Republicans to move on from the results of the 2020 vote.
