
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump pulled no punches Saturday when it came to the performance of Connecticut’s Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
“Let me tell you how bad your governor is,” Trump told a crowd of 5,000 Saturday at Sacred Heart University. “He’s a very unpopular guy. He’s done a very poor job for Connecticut.”
Trump suggested voters view their vote for Trump as a vote against Malloy and his economic policies, which Trump said drove General Electric out of Connecticut.
“You’ve gotta vote for Trump just as a signal to your incompetent governor that you’re not going to take it anymore,” Trump said Saturday. “…do it as a protest vote against your governor for losing General Electric.”
After handing out 49 milk cartons to kids at summer lunch program in East Hartford Monday, Malloy also didn’t pull any punches when he called Trump a “fraud.”
“Donald Trump is an out-and-out fraud,” Malloy said. “Let’s start with the fact that he won’t release his tax returns. He’s running for the highest office in the land. He said he would release his tax returns. He acknowledged that was necessary to run for president and he won’t.”
Malloy opined that it’s because the tax returns will show the only one who has ever benefitted from all of his bankruptcies is Donald Trump.
As for criticism that Connecticut failed to retain GE’s headquarters in Fairfield, Malloy said the public would still be howling if he spent $162 million to retain 200 jobs. That $162 million is the amount of money the state of Massachusetts and the city of Boston gave GE in economic incentives to relocate to the Bay State.
Democratic lawmakers have argued that Connecticut’s tax structure and GE’s complaints about it were exaggerated in an effort to make the state a scapegoat. They have said GE traded in its office park in Fairfield in exchange for a more urban environment that better serves its workforce. Republican lawmakers have argued that GE left at least partly because of Connecticut’s tax structure and the lack of predictability in its budget process.
In a press release announcing the company’s departure in January, GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt said they chose Boston because they “want to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations.” He cited the 55 colleges and universities in the Greater Boston area and the investment the state makes in research and development.

Malloy said he’s proud of his record on job creation. He said during his tenure Connecticut has seen the creation of 100,000 private sector jobs and dramatic changes in an education system that’s graduating more kids.
“We’re a healthier state. We’re a safer state experiencing a lowest crime rate in 48 years,” Malloy said. “We’re investing money in infrastructure… so I’m pretty proud of the record.”
Malloy might be proud of his record, but his 24 percent approval rating makes it difficult for Democrats to defend the governor against Trump’s attack.
Top Democrats in the state like U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who was also attacked by Trump for misstating his service during the Vietnam War, and U.S. Reps. Elizabeth Esty, Jim Himes, Joe Courtney, John Larson, and Rosa DeLauro didn’t come to Malloy’s defense on social media Saturday night.
“If Rep. Esty responded every time Donald Trump launched a new attack or made a new outrageous comment, she’d have no time for anything else,” a spokesman for Esty’s campaign, said Monday.
Leigh Appleby, a spokesman for the Connecticut Democratic Party, said Monday the real story is why Republicans are supporting a “presidential nominee who has attacked a Gold Star family, incited violence against his political opponent, and mocked a reporter with a physical disability.”
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
He said while Malloy and Connecticut Democrats were “making hard choices to balance our state budget, Donald Trump was bankrupting businesses and driving them into the ground. While Dan Malloy was working with the Democratic legislature to raise the minimum wage and guarantee earned sick time, Donald Trump was stiffing and shortchanging the people who worked for him. And while Dan Malloy and Democrats were improving Connecticut’s education system, Donald Trump was being sued for running the bogus Trump University.”
Meanwhile, Malloy visited Sunset Ridge School in East Hartford to tout the success of a summer meal program. The program has expanded from 536 sites to 714 sites over the past six years. The sites serve breakfast and lunch to children under the age of 18 during the summer months when school is not in session.
In 2015, the program fed 41,676 children and served a total of 1,924,450 meals across the state.
The program is funded mostly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
More State Budget news

Stefanowski Talks Abortion, Employee Raises & Budget In First Press Conference
For a half-hour Wednesday, Bob Stefanowski stood outside the state Capitol and fielded questions on abortion rights and state employee raises in a sign the Republican candidate plans to run a more conventional campaign in this year’s rematch with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Keep reading
Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep reading