President Donald Trump’s second inaugural address prompted a range of reactions from the Granite State’s political class. Republicans celebrated Trump’s promise of a “Golden Age of America” while Democrats licked their electoral wounds and vowed to redouble their efforts.
Dave Carney, a veteran New Hampshire GOP strategist, said Trump “stood in the lion’s den and delivered a clear plan to use his mandate to fulfill the commitments he made during the campaign.
“Not flinching in the presence of those he called out,” added Carney, who described Trump’s pointed remarks and critiques of President Joe Biden’s administration as “refreshing.”
Outgoing New Hampshire GOP Chairman Chris Ager watched Trump’s Capitol Rotunda speech from a Washington, D.C., ballroom along with about 300 Republican National Committee members. He called the speech “absolutely epic,” describing the atmosphere as “electric.”
“There were tears in people’s eyes, and there was nothing that he said that wasn’t met with nods of approval or applause,” Ager said. “It was epic, true Donald Trump fashion, and there’s lots of optimism and enthusiasm, for sure, right now within the Republican ranks.”
“For about 20 minutes, he was just, ‘bam, bam, bam, here’s what I’m going to do.’ And people looked at each other like, ‘Oh my goodness, he is going to do it.’”
Ager, who in November helped deliver New Hampshire Republicans another term in the governor’s office along with significantly larger majorities in the House and Senate, is stepping away from the job.
Ager’s Democratic counterpart, Ray Buckley, issued a statement criticizing Trump’s “negative policies,” adding, “Our charge at the New Hampshire Democratic Party is to organize across the state and elect Democrats at the local, state, and federal level who will improve the lives of Granite Staters,” Buckley wrote.
(Under Buckley, Democrats have lost the last five governor’s races and control of the legislature in four of the last five cycles.)
New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan also issued a statement.
“Like many Granite Staters, and like many Americans, I strongly disagree with President Trump on a number of issues,” Hassan said. “But as I have throughout my time in public service, I will work across party lines to make bipartisan progress on issues where the president and I can find common ground.”
State Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins-Kwoka (D-Portsmouth) looked to draw inspiration from Martin Luther King in a social media post.
“Even while it looks bleak, rightness will always come out on top,” she posted. “The legacy of Dr. King is enduring and all the more necessary in the world now.”
Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) offered a more optimistic take than her Democrat Party peer Perkins-Kwoka.
“I look forward to working with the Trump-Vance administration to keep our state on the right track,” Carson said in a statement. “Our goal is to protect the New Hampshire Advantage and not go down the path of reckless spending or becoming a sanctuary state.”
And while Monday marked a depressing passing of the torch for Democrats, Republicans in D.C. were elated.
“The temperature in D.C. may be close to single digits, but for the MAGA faithful, Washington D.C. is hotter than the Fourth of July, and the whole city is going off like a firecracker,” said Nashua native and GOP consultant Matthew Bartlett. “Bars and restaurants are full, people are greeting each other in the streets, the Capitol was packed with the most important titans of industry and the Capital One Center was packed like Woodstock.
“Never in the past decade has Trump and his supporters been embraced by this town. It’s a bigger cultural moment than (Bob) Dylan going electric. At least for today, this town is finally getting the message.”
State Rep. Fred Doucette (R-Salem) watched from a hotel ballroom with about 150 other Granite State Republicans.
“He gave a great speech, a presidential speech, in that he didn’t necessarily go full throttle, but he also didn’t hold back from what it was that put him in office,” Doucette added. “He spoke about the things that separate normalcy from the chaos that was the last four years.”
New Hampshire native Corey Lewandowski, who played a prominent role in Trump’s first winning presidential campaign in 2016, called the speech “historic and inspiring for all Americans.”
“His decision to declare the drug cartels a national security threat is good news for New Hampshire families facing the devastation of fentanyl and addiction,” Lewandowski said.
Fellow Granite Stater Karoline Leavitt, who is Trump’s incoming press secretary, echoed her boss’s remark and declared on social media that “the Golden Age of America has begun” and announced that “America is BACK.”
“Let’s get to work!” she added.
One of the 2024 election cycle’s standouts, Republican Lily Tang Williams, traveled to Washington to celebrate Trump’s presidential inauguration.
“Lots of patriots from all over the Granite State and other states,” Tang Williams posted from a watch party with her fellow New Hampshire Republicans. “Love, energy, hope and cheers for our 47th President Trump.”
And what was the biggest applause moment of the inauguration?
“When Marine One took off from the Capitol, and Biden was disappearing,” Doucette said.
