White House official hints at Trump drug abuse rumors, calls out his 'snorting'


Over the weekend, Donald Trump suggested that both he and Hillary Clinton should be drug-tested before Wednesday's presidential debate. "Athletes, they make them take a drug test, right? … Why don't we do that?" Trump said at a Saturday rally, hinting that Clinton had taken some sort of stimulant because she was "all pumped up at the beginning" of the last debate, but seemed exhausted by the end.
Of course, if any candidate has been subject to drug abuse rumors, it's been Trump and his persistent sniffling. A pesky case of the sniffles can be a sign someone is using cocaine, and though there have been no other indications Trump has a drug problem — in fact, he's famously a teetotaler — White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was bemused enough by Trump's drug test suggestion to take a whack at the rumors:
Earnest immediately said he was "just trying to have a little fun" with his quip — but surely, somewhere in a dark, dingy corner, the internet's conspiracy machines are whirring away.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
How the New World Screwworm is making a deadly comeback
The explainer The parasite is spreading quickly
-
A running list of all the celebrities Trump has pardoned
IN DEPTH Reality stars, rappers and disgraced politicians have received some of the high-profile pardons doled out by the president
-
US credit rating: what it is and why it matters
the explainer Credit rating agency Moody's downgraded the US last month
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges