Donald Trump delivered a televised White House speech on Thursday that lasted more than one hour, and was intended to celebrate his acquittal the previous day in the impeachment trial against him. Instead, the speech became what Vox.com reporter Aaron Rupar described as “one of the most bonkers official events in presidential history.”
The speech, which was punctuated by the same sharp, nasal sniffing heard in Trump public appearances dating back to the 2016 presidential debates, prompted a former staff member on the NBC reality television show The Apprentice — which Trump hosted for 14 seasons — to speculate again that his former boss was under the influence of drugs.
“It’s actually hard to pick up that much sniffing with a dynamic mic,” wrote Noel Casler, on his Twitter account. “Trump is extra high today.”
Casler has called attention to what he claims is Trump’s drug use, specifically alleging that Trump has long used the amphetamine Adderall, which is frequently prescribed for Attention Deficit Disorder. After Trump gave a short speech on January 8, following an Iranian missile attack on United States troops in Iraq, Casler also claimed that the repeated sniffing and strange mispronunciations of common words were evidence of drug use by Trump.
“Trump is on drugs, whether we want to face it or not,” the former Apprentice staffer wrote at that time, adding that Trump has been “addicted to speed” for several decades.
Trump praises Rep. Jim Jordan’s body and points out his wrestling ears pic.twitter.com/Cwn0JTRWX8
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 6, 2020
The content of Trump’s speech was also difficult to follow, and largely devoted to personal attacks against those he believes have wronged him — though as seen in the video above, Trump also praised Republicans who supported him, albeit often in strange terms. For example, Trump complimented Ohio House rep Jim Jordan, a former collegiate wrestling national champion, on his body and ears.
He also paid an unusual compliment to Republican Louisiana member of Congress Steve Scalise, who was the victim of a shooting in 2017, telling Scalise that he “set a record for blood loss,” as quoted by Talking Points Memo .
Trump went on to tell Scalise that he has become more handsome since he was shot, telling the House rep that before the shooting, “you weren’t that good-looking.”
But much of the speech saw an angry and aggrieved Trump dismiss special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of his Russia ties as “bulls**t,” and several former top officials in the FBI as “scum.”
In 2016 when Trump’s public sniffing habit first surfaced, Atlantic Monthly medical correspondent also said that the odd tic could be the result of stimulant drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine.
But the sniffing many simply be the result of Trump feeling “angry or nervous,” Hamblin wrote.