Dan Malloy in 2018 CT Governor's race

On Immigration: Muslim ban harkens back to darkest times in our history

"The administration will now resume enforcing the President's hateful, discriminatory, and un-American Muslim ban, preventing some of the most vulnerable people in the world from seeking a better life in the United States just because of their religion. Just like the 'zero tolerance' family separation policy, the Muslim ban harkens back to some of the darkest times in our nation's history, when Japanese-Americans were imprisoned for no reason other than their heritage, or Irish and Italian-Americans were barred from employment opportunities.

"Connecticut has opened its arms to refugees fleeing war, famine, and other unimaginable atrocities. And we are now a stronger, safer, more accepting state. This Muslim ban will only serve to alienate our neighbors and harm the fabric and safety of our communities."

On Gun Control: NRA has developed into a terrorist organization

"They act quite frankly in some cases as a terrorist organization," said Malloy. "You want to make safer guns? We will boycott your company. That's who they are. That's what they do."

Malloy said the NRA is a different organization than what it used to be. "The NRA today is a far cry from the NRA that in 1999 said that teachers shouldn't carry weapons in schools," said Malloy. "Or in the 90's said we should have universal background checks. They have in essence become a terrorist organization."

The NRA released the following statement in regards to Gov. Malloy's terrorist remarks: "The NRA is comprised of over five million law-abiding citizens. So let's be clear Governor Malloy just called tens of thousands of his constituents terrorists. NRA members love our children and want them to be safe just as much as anyone else; we just disagree that punishing law-abiding citizens is the way to achieve that goal."