Trump’s advice for worried upstate New Yorkers: ‘Go to another state’

President Trump continues to have a blunt message for upstate New York residents who are worried about the region’s economy: Get out.

Meeting with reporters from regional news outlets from around the country Wednesday, Trump offered detailed comments in response to questions about his August 2017 statement that upstate residents should consider leaving.

“If New York isn’t gonna treat them better, I would recommend they go to another state where they can get a great job,” Trump said Wednesday.

At the same time, Trump said he has a special fondness for upstate New York, given that he overwhelmingly won the region’s rural counties in his 2016 campaign for president against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

“I love those people,” Trump said of upstate residents. “Those people are my voters. They’ve been treated very badly.”

Trump portrayed New York residents as victims of their state government.

“The problem is that states that have been really well run and don’t have debt, those states have a big advantage over states that have been poorly run, like New York and others, and have a tremendous amount of debt,” he said.