Outrage in the Granite State after Trump calls it a ‘drug infested den’
New Hampshire’s political leaders lashed out at President Trump on Thursday after it was revealed that he had called the Granite State “a drug infested den” during a ranting call with the president of Mexico.
“I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den,” the president told President Enrique Peña Nieto, according to The Washington Post, which obtained transcripts of the president’s calls to a pair of world leaders.
Trump actually lost New Hampshire to Hillary Clinton, but what angered GOP Gov. Chris Sununu and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan was the president’s insensitive characterization of the opioid crisis in their state.
“The president is wrong. It’s disappointing his mischaracterization of this epidemic ignores the great things this state has to offer,” Sununu said in a statement.
“Our administration inherited one of the worst health crises this state has ever experienced, but we are facing this challenged head on.”
The governor said New Hampshire had doubled its resources to fight opioid addiction and that the state had “dedicated millions to law enforcement efforts to keep drugs” from getting into the state.
“We are already seeing positive signs of our efforts as overdoses and deaths are declining in key parts of the state.”
The senators, both Democrats, also harshly rebuked Trump.
“@realDonaldTrump’s comments about New Hampshire are disgusting. As he knows, NH and states across America have a substance misuse crisis,” Hassan wrote on Twitter.
“To date, @POTUS has proposed policies that would severely set back our efforts to combat this devastating epidemic,” she added, referring to his effort to repeal Obamacare, in the second of a trio of tweets.
“Instead of insulting people in the throes of addiction, @POTUS needs to work across party lines to actually stem the tide of this crisis,” Hassan wrote.
Shaheen also condemned Trump’s uncharitable language, and slammed him for not keeping his promise that his administration would do more to help states combat addiction.
“@RealDonaldTrump owes NH an apology & then should follow through on his promise to Granite Staters to help end this crisis,” she tweeted.
“It’s absolutely unacceptable for the President to be talking about NH in this way – a gross misrepresentation of NH & the epidemic,” she added.
Trump in the phone call lambasted Peña Nieto over the flow of illegal drugs into the US from south of the border.
“We have a massive drug problem where kids are becoming addicted to drugs because the drugs are being sold for less money than candy,” Trump said.
Peña Nieto fired back by telling Trump that drug trafficking in Mexico is “largely supported by the illegal amounts of money and weapons coming from the United States,” according to the transcript.