Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that the mysterious baggie of cocaine found at the White House over the weekend belonged to US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
US Secret Service agents found the powder cocaine Sunday during a routine security sweep of the West Wing in an area frequented by visitors and staff.
Trump took the drug discovery as an opportunity for baseless smears.
“Does anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter & Joe Biden,” Trump, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, wrote in a post on his social media website.
“But watch, the Fake News Media will soon start saying that the amount found was ‘very small,’ & it wasn’t really COCAINE, but rather common ground up Aspirin, & the story will vanish,” he continued.
Contrary to Trump’s suggestion, the story remained a major focus on Wednesday, with lab analysis confirming the substance is cocaine, a Republican senator demanding the Secret Service explain how the drug got into the White House, and reporters asking the president’s spokesperson multiple times for more details.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday the cocaine was found in a “heavily-travelled” area with lots of visitors and that there were staff tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“The president and the first lady and their family were not here this weekend,” Jean-Pierre said.
She said the Secret Service would conduct its investigation of the drugs and that the White House would stay out of it.
The president’s son Hunter has been public about his past struggle with addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine; the elder Biden doesn’t drink and has never been known as a drug user.
While he was making things up, Trump also suggested Wednesday that Jack Smith ― the special counsel prosecutor appointed by the Justice Department to handle the cases against the former president ― looks like a drug addict.
“Has Deranged Jack Smith, the crazy, Trump hating Special Prosecutor, been seen in the area of the COCAINE?” Trump wrote. “He looks like a crackhead to me!”