Washington
The incident took place on June 19, as Trump was walking to the office of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., to discuss immigration, according to a video taken by NBC News reporter Frank Thorp V.
In the video, as Trump’s entourage walks through a corridor, a woman can be heard shouting “Mr. President!” — followed by a profane insult.
The woman, who was on the other side the Capitol Rotunda at the time, was later identified as an intern working for Hassan. The intern, Caitlin Marriott, was suspended for one week. Hassan’s office said it also “facilitated contact with Capitol Police” regarding the incident.
“Her behavior violated the standards of our office about appropriate conduct,” said the senator and former New Hampshire governor in a brief interview at the Capitol on Tuesday. “We suspended her for a week and we took away the badge that allows her to travel freely in the Capitol complex, which means that she will be highly restricted for the remainder of her internship.
“I think it’s really important to understand that this behavior shouldn’t be equated with the president’s destructive and divisive actions, like ripping health care away from people by failing to protect preexisting conditions; going out, gutting the ACA; like separating children from their parents at our southern border. And this young woman immediately accepted responsibility for her actions and is facing consequences for them. The president is doing neither.”
New Hampshire Republicans have called for Marriott, a junior at Keene State College, to be fired.
“I have to say that outburst I feel was really disgusting behavior, and there’s no place for that in terms of public discourse and public office,” Gov. Chris Sununu told the New Hampshire Union Leader on Tuesday. “I think we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
The state Republican Party is also urging people to call Hassan’s office and demand Marriott be fired.
“The revelation that it was indeed Senator Maggie Hassan’s intern who shouted an obscenity at our President in the Capitol Rotunda should disgust, anger, and embarrass Granite Staters,” state GOP Chairwoman Jeanie Forrester said in a Tuesday statement.
Asked about critics, Hassan said: “I would point them to the fact that she has been held accountable for actions that she took full responsibility for.”
Marriott could not immediately be reached on Tuesday.