Donald Trump’s campaign called former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean a “sad distraction” on Wednesday, after he refused to back down from his suggestion that the Republican nominee may have been high on cocaine during the first presidential debate.
“Gov. Dean’s comment was beyond the pale and has no place in our important political discussion,” the Trump campaign said in a statement to NBC News.
After Trump was repeatedly caught sniffling during the first several minutes of Monday night’s debate, Dean, a doctor, tweeted: “Notice Trump sniffling all the time. Coke user?”
Despite facing pressure to apologize, the former Democratic National Committee chairman later told MSNBC that several of Trump’s behavioral tendencies could be explained by cocaine use.
“So, he sniffs during the presentation which is something that users do. He also has grandiosity which is something that accompanies that problem. He has delusions — I’m not talking about being crazy, but for example when he told everybody it was smart not to pay taxes and then denied he said it after he said it in front of 100 million people,” Dean said. “He has trouble with pressured speech. He interrupted, as you pointed out, Hillary Clinton 29 times. He couldn’t keep himself together.”
He continued, “So, look, do I think at 70 years old [Trump] has a cocaine habit? Probably not. But you know, it’s something I think it would be interesting to ask him and see if he ever had a problem with that.”
The Trump campaign accused Dean, who has been a top supporter of Hillary Clinton and spoke at the Democratic convention in late July, of trying to “stay relevant.”
“On a night where millions of Americans were able to compare and contrast the policies of both candidates, Gov. Dean went straight to the gutter and was nothing more than a sad distraction in a desperate attempt to stay relevant,” they said.
