Howard Dean's speculation that Donald Trump's sniffles during Monday night's debate could be related to cocaine use is just another example of Hillary Clinton's backers throwing "stuff up on the wall to see what sticks," former presidential candidate Herman Cain said Wednesday.
"How can Mr. 'I Have a Scream' criticize somebody with a sniffle?" Cain told Fox News "Fox & Friends," referring to a scream that the former Vermont governor made during a fiery campaign speech. The scream, combined with the shouting, are widely blamed with dooming Dean's presidential hopes.
"Here's the other thing that's going on," Cain told the program. "They are so desperate that they throw stuff up on the wall to see what sticks. That's just another thing that, they do it all the time. He threw it out there. He didn't make a declarative statement. He just wants to plant some doubt in people's minds."
Monday night, during the debate, Dean tweeted his accusation. On Tuesday, Dean, who is a physician, told MSNBC that it's unlikely Trump, at 70, has a cocaine problem, but he wouldn't rule it out, either.
But such name-calling won't work, said Cain.
"The 'basket of deplorables' that Hillary talked about, they're getting stronger and stronger and stronger every time Hillary name-calls or every time some Hillary supporters try to call names," said Cain, who ran for office in 2012.
Trump on Tuesday denied to Fox News that he was sniffing, but instead blamed the sounds on his microphone.
Meanwhile, MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program called on Dean, a former guest on the show's panel, to apologize for his comments about Trump.
"My poor eight-year-old son. I'm going to have to do drug tests now because he gets the flu once a month," show host Joe Scarborough said.
"If a Trump surrogate said that…" started Bloomberg Politics editor Mark Halperin
"A Trump surrogate would get killed," Scarborough continued.
"Hillary Clinton's campaign, he's their surrogate," said Halperin. "They should be asked if they think that's appropriate and he should take it back."
"They need to denounce Dr. Dean's words," said Scarborough. "There's no doubt about it. I say Dr. Dean because he's a medical doctor. He is our friend, but he is a doctor, and he's going around diagnosing a coke problem on TV because a guy has a flu or is run down.
"And look at what the Clinton people did when people started speculating about why she passed out the way she did. They freaked out."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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