Howard Dean stands behind Trump 'coke user' tweet

Despite a lack of evidence, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is refusing to apologize for insinuating on Twitter that Donald Trump might be a “coke user” – instead, he claimed Tuesday that the Republican presidential nominee’s “grandiosity” and “delusions” are characteristic of cocaine use, while acknowledging that it’s unlikely he actually has a drug problem.

As the nominees debated at Hofstra University in New York on Monday night, Dean – a Democrat who is supporting Hillary Clinton in the race – tweeted: “Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user?”


The comment reverberated around the Twittersphere – it’s been retweeted some 26,000 times – but also drew criticism for being a low blow and a conspiracy theory. MSNBC’s Kate Snow, speaking with Dean on Tuesday afternoon, asked, “Why did you go there?”

Dean, who is a physician, clarified that he was not actually assigning Trump a cocaine addiction diagnosis – “You can't make a diagnosis over the television; I would never do that,” he said – but maintained that Trump’s sniffling, as seen at the debate, “is actually a signature of people who use cocaine.” Then he pivoted the discussion to argue that Trump should release his tax returns and more detailed medical records.

“He sniffs during the presentation, which is something that users do,” Dean said, and then attributed a series of other characteristics to Trump that he said “accompanies that problem.” He has “grandiosity,” “delusions” and “trouble with pressured speech” and “couldn't keep himself together” on Monday, Dean said. “I think it would be interesting to ask him and see if he ever had a problem with that.”

“I just was struck by the sniffing and then by his behavior, which all sort of came together, these four symptoms,” Dean continued. “You know, do I think he has a cocaine habit? I think it's unlikely that you could mount a presidential campaign at 70 years old with a cocaine habit, but it’s striking.”

Snow pushed back, comparing Dean’s comments to theories propagated by Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani earlier in the race, questioning Clinton’s health. “You don’t see the parallel?” she asked.

“Donald Trump has not only not made his tax returns public, he’s also not made his medical history public in any meaningful way,” Dean responded. “Hillary Clinton has done that and has answered any question that Giuliani may want to raise.”

And, Dean told Snow, he has no plans to apologize for the comment, or delete the tweet. “I don’t think this is a ridiculous idea. Something funny was going on with Trump last night. Do I think it was cocaine? Probably not,” he said. “This guy’s already proving himself to be unstable. The question is, why is he unstable?”

Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer said on MSNBC on Tuesday that it was “pretty pathetic and unreal” for “someone who has been a governor, a presidential candidate and, most importantly, a medical doctor to make that prognosis with no fact.”