Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

For Trump, Border Wall Key to Curbing Heroin

BEDFORD, N.H. (CN) - Donald Trump offered up his solution to New Hampshire's growing heroin epidemic at a rally on Thursday, calling it the "single biggest problem" facing the Granite State.

Drug deaths in the state surpassed the number of traffic deaths in 2015, and analysis from the state medical examiner reveals this year's death toll will be even higher.

Trump briefly addressed the drug crisis to the hundreds gathered at NH Sportsplex in Bedford before reading his prepared remarks.

"How does heroin work with these beautiful lakes and trees?" the Republican nominee recalled asking upon first learning of the heroin and prescription opioid crisis. "It doesn't, but it's the single biggest problem."

Trump vowed that enhanced border security, a key campaign issue for the GOP nominee, will stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

"We're going to build that wall, and we're going to stop that heroin from coming in," he promised over chants of "Build that wall!"

Questions of cocaine use have dogged the Republican candidate since he sniffled through an animated debate performance Monday, but Trump was breathing easily during his 40-minute talk in New Hampshire.

The campaign stop follows a joint rally Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders held on Wednesday at the University of New Hampshire to discuss college affordability.

Media reports counted close to 1,000 supporters in the audience for Clinton and Sanders, but Trump mocked the pair's turnout, saying they "had very few people at their rally yesterday."

The NH Sportsplex can accommodate 1,500, a capacity Trump had trouble hitting Thursday.

Bedford police estimated 850 attendees at the venue, but parking was not a problem in Sportsplex's 327-car lot.

Confident he can win over voters disillusioned with the Vermont senator's support of Clinton, Trump added that Sanders could have been a "legendary political figure" if he hadn't "sold out to the devil."

Sanders overwhelming defeated Clinton in the New Hampshire primary in January, and poll watchers see it as critical for her to win back his heavily millennial base.

"We're going to have a lot of Bernie's people supporting us, especially because of my views on trade," said Trump.

Trump calls the North American Free Trade Agreement "the worst trade deal ever made," and renegotiating NAFTA is a cornerstone of Trump's campaign.

Reiterating his commitment to making "fair" deals Thursday, Trump also called for ending Common Core and passing the lowest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan.

Trump reminded supporters that New Hampshire voters gave him his first win the primary season, beating out several more established politicians as the then-outsider candidate. New Hampshire is now a key swing state in the general election, and Trump has made several stops here to challenge Clinton's narrow lead over him.

"I love the people of New Hampshire, and we're going to fulfill every single wish and every single promise," said Trump. "We're going to do something very very significant for you."

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...