White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest seemed to get a little punchy Monday when a reporter asked him to comment on Donald Trump's suggestion that the candidates take a drug test before Wednesday's third and final debate. "So you're telling me that the candidate that snorted his way through the first two debate is accusing the other candidate of taking drugs?" Earnest remarked. Asked in a follow-up if he was saying Trump's audible sniffling in the first two debates was related to drug use, Earnest replied, "Not at all." Rather, he was just "trying to have a little fun" with the press conference, blaming his "flawed delivery" for the lack of "chuckles."
"I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate because I don't know what's going on with her," Trump said at a rally over the weekend, continuing to question his opponent's "stamina" even after he praised her for being a fighter who never gives up at the end of the second debate. Last month, during the first debate, former Democratic Governor Howard Dean came under fire for tweeting that Trump might be a "coke user." He later doubled down, saying, "So, he sniffs during the presentation, which is something that users do. He also has grandiosity, which is something that accompanies that problem... Look, do I think at 70 years old he has a cocaine habit? Probably not. But, you know, it is something that — I think it would be interesting to ask him and see if he ever had a problem with that."