April Burbank

Free Press Staff Writer

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean suggested Monday night that Donald Trump was a “coke user” because of his behavior during the first presidential debate.

“Notice Trump sniffing all the time,” Dean wrote in a Twitter post. “Coke user?”

Dean, a physician turned politician, supports Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He ran for president in 2004 and later served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Dean cited no evidence for his accusation other than the Republican nominee's mannerisms in the debate.

By Tuesday morning Dean’s tweet had been shared more than 24,700 times, generating laughter as well as condemnation.

He did not respond to an email from the Burlington Free Press seeking context and evidence for the claim.

Later Tuesday, Dean appeared on MSNBC and defended the tweet.

“Do I think at 70 years old he has a cocaine habit? Probably not," Dean said, then laughed, "but it’s something that I think it’d be interesting to ask him and see if he ever had a problem with that.”

Dean said he would "never" make a medical diagnosis over television, but that he noticed Trump's sniffing, delusions and two other symptoms consistent with cocaine use. Dean insisted he was not actually suggesting that Trump used cocaine.

He brushed off MSNBC anchor Kate Snow's suggestions that Dean was attacking Trump the same way Republicans had attacked Clinton with theories about her health.

"I don’t think this is a ridiculous idea," Dean said. "Something funny was going on with Trump last night. Do I think it was cocaine? Probably not, but again, the sniffling, the grandiosity, the delusions, the pressured speech. You know this guy’s already proven himself to be unstable. The question is, why is he unstable?”

This article was first published Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016 and has been updated.

Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank

Do you have a breaking news tip? Call us at 802-660-6500 or send us a post on Facebook or Twitter using #BFPTips.