Trump ‘New Hampshire Drug Den’ Quip Triggers Outrage, But Is He Wrong?

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2017/08/03/trump-new-hampshire-drug-den-quip-triggers-outrage-but-is-he-wrong/

New Hampshire U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan was quick to denounce President Donald Trump’s description of the Granite State (reported this morning) as a “drug-infested den.”

Trump, who is no stranger to wild claims, added in his comments to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto — which Americans learned of thanks to a transcript of a telephone conversation leaked to the Washington Post — that New Hampshire’s alleged drug-addled state is why he won.

Trump did not win New Hampshire last November, but his other claim about the state’s apparent drug problem has Granite State officials like Hassan fuming.

New Boston Post staff did a quick Google search about 10 minutes after the Washington Post story broke, entering the words “New Hampshire a drug infested den” into the search bar. New Boston Post staff did the same search hours later.

The results from the first search placed Trump’s comments fourth from the top.

The top three results?

Reports from 2015 and 2016, courtesy of NBC News, FOX News, and CNN, all detailing the heroin epidemic ravaging Massachusetts’s neighbor to the north:

Here’s what the top Google hits turned up after Trump’s comments festered on the Internet for a few hours:

Hassan has publicly called on Trump to apologize for statements he made during what was supposed to be a private telephone conversation between two world leaders. 

Republican Governor Chris Sununu was also quick to rip Trump:

“The President is wrong,” Sununu said in an emailed statement. “It’s disappointing his mischaracterization of this epidemic ignores the great things this state has to offer.”

Trump’s comment, according to the telephone transcript, came while he spoke to the Mexican president about drug trafficking.

The Washington Post story appeared three days after The Union Leader, New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, reported that the state is in line to receive a $2.2 million grant to treat opioid addicts, particularly in the state’s two largest cities, Manchester and Nashua.