Many citizens of New Hampshire are not happy with Trump characterizing their state as a “drug-infested den.”
Trump made the comment during a phone call he had with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto shortly after taking office. The call was part of a series of phone calls from the new president to other world leaders, but Trump used the opportunity to confront the Mexican president about drug trafficking crossing the border into the United States.
“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, according to a transcript. “I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.”
Trump won New Hampshire in the Republican primaries, but not in the general election.
Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, acknowledged there is a drug crisis in his state, but disagrees with the way his state was referred to by President Trump.
“It’s disappointing his mischaracterization of this epidemic ignores the great things this state has to offer,” Governor Sununu said.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party thought the governor was too easy on Trump.
“Ahh… so you’re just going to ignore the whole “I won New Hampshire because it’s is a drug-infested den” thing…” reads a tweet from the NH Democratic Party account.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen also had harsh words for for the President.
“@RealDonaldTrump owes NH an apology & then should follow through on his promise to Granite Staters to help end this crisis,” she tweeted.
Several other officials also piled on, including fellow New Hampshire senator Maggie Hassan and Representative Carol Shea-Porter. The state’s citizens were not silent on the matter either.
“I can’t wait until Sarah Huckabee Sanders tells us Donald Trump was just joking about winning New Hampshire & calling it a #druginfestedden” one Twitter user joked.
Other citizens opted to instead share scenic photos of their state with the hashtag #druginfestedden.
The state of New Hampshire has been fighting a drug epidemic in their state, recently taking measures to ensure that dealers who sell drugs that lead to a user’s overdose are held responsible after overdose deaths there rose from one in 2016 to 11 in 2017.
