Bolduc attacks Hassan, ‘Washington elites,’ at Hooksett town hall

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Don Bolduc on Oct. 12, 2022. Photo/Andrew Sylvia

HOOKSETT, N.H. –  Despite being “spit at, sworn at and put through the ringer” during the recent Republican U.S. Senate Primary, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Don Bolduc says he wants to respect opinions from everyone and be a U.S. Senator for everyone, other than perhaps the current U.S. Senator from New Hampshire up for re-election: Maggie Hassan.

Bolduc took questions from supporters and shared his viewpoints on a variety of positions in a Thursday night “town hall-style” event at New England’s Tap House and Grille.

Bolduc’s overarching theme for the evening attacked bureaucracy and regulations from out-of-touch elitists in Washington, with a focus on Hassan in that group, repeatedly attacking her work ethic and stating that she has not done enough for the Granite State during her time as U.S. Senator on topics ranging from border security to energy to the state of the U.S. Military and the U.S. Veterans’ Administration.

In addition to attacking Hassan, he also attacked Joe Biden on the conclusion of the Afghan War and the Biden Administration’s approach on inflation as well as calling for the resignation of the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (Alejandro Mayorkas), U.S Secretary of the Interior (Deb Haaland), U.S. Attorney General (Merrick Garland), U.S. Secretary of Defense (Lloyd Austin), U.S. Secretary of State (Anthony Blinken), U.S. Secretary of Transportation (Pete Buttigieg) and several other federal officials.

While asking members of the audience for their votes, he also said that work would need to be done to change the current state of the country.

“You deserve better than what you’re getting,” he said. “And I would be honored to have the opportunity to do that for you.”

However, he also added that he wants to respect the opinions of others whenever possible using former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii as an example, following on Gabbard’s recent announcement that she is leaving the Democratic Party and will be joining Bolduc at upcoming events even though he said he disagrees with her on occasion.

Bolduc also added that he would limit himself to two terms as a U.S. Senator if elected and not be a “rubber stamp” for federal appointments based on the preferences of the Republican Party.

“I stand here in front of you as an option, someone who God has given experiences to go down and be your ambassador, your conduit, someone who doesn’t have any other agenda than to do that,” he said. “We have a role to play, this is mine, but I need your help. This isn’t about Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Free Staters or Libertarians, it’s about Granite Staters and Americans. We all need to come together for a better solution.”

Bolduc stated that the current divisive atmosphere of the country comes from the bureaucracy of Washington seeking to prevent regular Americans from living their lives the way they want or forcing values on them while not addressing issues harming the country, such as the opioid epidemic.

While Hassan has also run on her record of bi-partisanship and her efforts to support police in addressing issues like the opioid epidemic, Bolduc referred that Hassan’s attacks on him as lies and snippets taken out of context. In regard Social Security, he says he wants to reform it rather than destroy it by raising the annual cap.

He also did not mention the issue of abortion beyond a statement made at the beginning of the evening by Republican State Senate District 20 Candidate Rich Girard, who said that Bolduc’s position is to leave the issue up to each state.

While polls still show that Hassan holds a lead over Bolduc as of Wednesday, Girard tied his race against long-time incumbent Lou D’Allesandro to Bolduc’s race and other New Hampshire Republicans.

“This race is winnable for Don Bolduc, this race is winnable for (U.S. House of Representatives New Hampshire First District Candidate) Karoline Leavitt, this race is winnable for (U.S. House of Representative New Hampshire Second District Candidate) Bob Burns and this race is even winnable for Rich Girard against Lou D’Allesandro,” said Girard. “All we have to do is what we need to do and not be afraid to do it.”


UPDATE: Hassan campaign spokesperson Sam Paisley released the following statement in response to Bolduc.

“Senator Maggie Hassan has been an independent leader for New Hampshire — from tackling surprise medical billing to lowering energy costs and delivering tax cuts for families and small businesses. Don Bolduc is desperately trying to distract from his support for a nationwide abortion ban, ending Social Security and Medicare as we know it, and overturning our elections. Don Bolduc won’t get away with his blatant attempts to mislead Granite Staters.”

About this Author

Andrew Sylvia

Assistant EditorManchester Ink Link

Born and raised in the Granite State, Andrew Sylvia has written approximately 10,000 pieces over his career for outlets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. On top of that, he's a licensed notary and licensed to sell property, casualty and life insurance, he's been a USSF trained youth soccer and futsal referee for the past six years and he can name over 60 national flags in under 60 seconds according to that flag game app he has on his phone, which makes sense because he also has a bachelor's degree in geography (like Michael Jordan). He can also type over 100 words a minute on a good day.