Republican New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc dodged a punch from a would-be assailant before stepping onstage to debate Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) on Wednesday, according to reports.
Bolduc, 60, a retired Army brigadier general, was apparently unharmed, and the individual who attempted to assault the Senate candidate was arrested, according to his campaign.
“As the General said on stage tonight, it’s time to lower the temperature of the political discourse in this country. Prior to the debate, an individual in the crowd gathered outside attempted to punch the General and was quickly apprehended and arrested,” a Bolduc campaign spokesperson told Boston 25 News.
“We are grateful to the quick response from law enforcement on the scene,” the spokesperson added.
The Post has reached out to the Bolduc campaign and New Hampshire’s Goffstown Police Department for comment.
Kevin Donohoe, Hassan’s campaign communications director, said on Wednesday that the assailant was a “libertarian party activist,” and he condemned the incident.
“Disgusting behavior. We saw this same libertarian party activist get aggressive with our campaign volunteers at this debate and the last,” Donohoe wrote on Twitter.
Disgusting behavior. We saw this same libertarian party activist get aggressive with our campaign volunteers at this debate and the last. #NHSen #NHPolitics https://t.co/BzaFzpjNsi
— Kevin Donohoe (@kdonohoenh) November 3, 2022
The debate between Bolduc and Hassan on Wednesday was the third and final debate before the Nov. 8 election. Hassan leads Bolduc by 1 percentage point according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls.
President Biden condemned political violence in a speech on Wednesday, including the recent hammer attack against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul.
“There’s an alarming rise in the number of our people in this country condoning political violence or simply remaining silent, because silence is complicity,” Biden said.
“The disturbing rise of voter intimidation, the pernicious tendency to excuse political violence, or at least at least trying to explain it away —we can’t allow the sentiment to grow,” the president added.
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