Either the fork is bent, or it's too narrow for that hub. Maybe the drum brake hub is wider than the almost-universal 120mm spacing for front hubs. IBut even if that's true, the bike designer would have known that and specced the correct fork. Either way, you shouldn't need to force the fork blades apart to get the wheel into the fork.

Something is still wrong here. I think that something is a bent fork or a mis-aligned dropout. Was there a plastic bit in between the fork tips when you took the frame out of the box? If not, the odds on "bent fork blade" go up.

--Shannon