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Ayotte Chides Press For Constantly Asking Her About Donald Trump

Allegra Boverman for NHPR

Sen. Kelly Ayotte seems to be growing tired of the constant questions about whether she'll support Donald Trump if he's the eventual Republican presidential nominee.

"I think it's a favorite question of the press to ask all of us what we think about Trump, but we are a long way away from Feb. 9," she said Wednesday, when asked about whether she'll support the billionaire businessman.

Ayotte has denounced Trump's controversial proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country, saying it's "inconsistent with the First Amendment," but says she'll support the Republican nominee, whoever it is.

"We've got a number of the candidates coming to New Hampshire, including Donald Trump," Ayotte said. "The people of New Hampshire have an important decision to make in a pretty large field on the Republican side. I plan to support our Republican nominee, but there's a long way to go before that decision is made." 

Trump continues to dominate the polls, both in New Hampshire and nationwide.

Ayotte has yet to endorse any candidate.

New Hampshire's top Republican also called ABC's decision this week to cut out the New Hampshire Union Leader from an upcoming GOP debate "offensive."

"I don't think they should have done that," she said. "I think we should have New Hampshire voices in those debates, especially with the primary coming up."

On President Obama's State of the Union address, Ayotte says she was pleased he brought up the heroin addiction epidemic, which has hit New Hampshire especially hard, but says she was "underwhelmed" by the foreign policy aspects of his address.

"I thought touting the Iran agreement in light of their behavior, I was disappointed by that, especially since at the time, they were holding our sailors, though I'm glad they were released," she said. 

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor.
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