--- title: Donald Trump: Every Person Released Will Sell Drugs Again description: Donald Trump said that “every single one” of the convicted drug dealers released under President Obama will return to selling drugs. canonical: https://time.com/4212699/trump-every-single-person-obama-released-will-sell-drugs-again/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-08T20:32:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T18:50:22.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump: 'Every' Person Obama Released Will Sell Drugs Again og:description: "These people are babies that think differently." og:url: https://time.com/4212699/trump-every-single-person-obama-released-will-sell-drugs-again/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf589529352410e28/69887ca7f887dc6caee9482b/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Campaigns Across New Hampshire Ahead Of Primary Day og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump: 'Every' Person Obama Released Will Sell Drugs Again twitter:description: "These people are babies that think differently." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf589529352410e28/69887ca7f887dc6caee9482b/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump: 'Every Single' Person Obama Released Will Sell Drugs Again > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson / Concord, N.H.](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Concord, N.H. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:50 PM UTCPublished: Feb 8, 2016 8:32 PM UTC  HOLDERNESS, NH - FEBRUARY 07: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Plymouth State University on February 7, 2016 in Holderness, New Hampshire. Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are stumping for votes throughout New Hampshire leading up to the primary on February 9\. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) HOLDERNESS, NH - FEBRUARY 07: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Plymouth State University on February 7, 2016 in Holderness, New Hampshire. Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are stumping for votes throughout New Hampshire leading up to the primary on February 9\. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson / Concord, N.H.](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Concord, N.H. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:50 PM UTCPublished: Feb 8, 2016 8:32 PM UTC Donald Trump said at a New Hampshire town hall Monday that “every single one” of the convicted drug dealers released under President Obama will return to selling drugs. “These people are babies that think differently,” Trump said of the inmates. “And a lot of them don’t even think differently, they just don’t care. Frankly, I don’t even think they care, it’s almost like they don’t like the country. But out of those 6,000, every single one of them will be back selling drugs. It’ll be very rare for one that doesn’t.” [Six thousand inmates were released from prison](http://time.com/4063277/justice-department-6000-prisoners/) at the end of 2015 as part of the Obama Administration’s effort to downsize the federal prison system and reduce sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. The administration supported the changes, but the release was made on the recommendation of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent agency in the judicial branch that was created by Congress. The snowy Londonderry talk was Trump’s [second town hall-style event](http://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/) of the day, marking a noticeable shift from his usual arena rallies the day before the New Hampshire primary. **Read More:** [_Donald Trump’s Latest Venture: Retail Politics_](http://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/) He seemed to connect more with voters at the second event, radiating both sympathy and determination when he was asked a few emotional questions. His answer on clemency was in response to a father who spoke to Trump for a little while about losing his teenage son to a prescription drug overdose, asking questions related to the epidemic in New Hampshire and the country as a whole. After talking about the clemency, Trump told the man to reach out to him when he reaches the White House. Later, a former United Airlines flight attendant stood and opened up to Trump about her survivor’s guilt from 9/11 (she had flown on September 10, and many of her friends were killed the following day.) “Being angry is OK,” Trump said. “We’re going to make you happy again. But being angry is OK … I understand, darling. I understand what you’re going through.” To finish the event, Trump turned to the rest of the audience: “I hope you’re angry enough to go out and vote tomorrow, folks,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4212699/trump-every-single-person-obama-released-will-sell-drugs-again/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4212699/trump-every-single-person-obama-released-will-sell-drugs-again/"},"headline":"Trump: 'Every Single' Person Obama Released Will Sell Drugs Again","datePublished":"2016-02-08T20:32:04.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T18:50:22.000Z","description":"Donald Trump said that “every single one” of the convicted drug dealers released under President Obama will return to selling drugs.","url":"https://time.com/4212699/trump-every-single-person-obama-released-will-sell-drugs-again/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election","Crime","justice","new hampshire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf589529352410e28/69887ca7f887dc6caee9482b/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson / Concord, N.H."}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf589529352410e28/69887ca7f887dc6caee9482b/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Campaigns Across New Hampshire Ahead Of Primary Day","caption":"Donald Trump Campaigns Across New Hampshire Ahead Of Primary Day","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4212699/trump-every-single-person-obama-released-will-sell-drugs-again/","name":"Trump: 'Every Single' Person Obama Released Will Sell Drugs Again"}}]}] ```