September 27, 2016

"Howard Dean wonders if Donald Trump’s continuous sniffing is coke-related."

"Huh. I’m old enough to remember when the left at least paid lip service to hating McCarthy-esque smear campaigns...." blogs Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.

Well, Dean was only asking. It was pretty hard not to be distracted by the sniffling. I thought Hillary was the one who was supposed to be sick, and here's Trump with — what? — a cold. He was mostly sniffling at the beginning. I was exclaiming "He keeps sniffing!" And he had that new vertical-index-finger gesture — you know, the upper lip windshield wiper move? Since I was on alert to see if Hillary had what it takes physically, I was riveted by Trump's nose.

ADDED: Trump said: "No sniffles. No. You know, the mic was very bad, but maybe it was good enough to hear breathing, but there was no sniffles." If you heard sniffles, you're wrong or the microphone was wrong.

52 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

They sprayed something up near his podium so he would be sniffing.

PB said...

Howard's last gasp to try and be relevant.

David Begley said...

What a low life comment by a loser.

Matt Sablan said...

Eh, we've had presidents who've done drugs before, so it wouldn't be that new.

But, since I think it is on record that Trump doesn't even drink -- right? -- I find it highly unlikely. But, then I remember: Dean doesn't care about facts. He just cares about finding a good way to gin up the requisite five minutes of hate against Trump for the day.

I don't like Trump; I really don't. But the more I see things like this I think, "I don't like the guy, but I don't fanatically hate him like seems to be in vogue right now."

Nonapod said...

I'll never forget the Dean Scream. It was like he channeled Ric Flair.

Unknown said...

What's good for the goose is, as they say, good for the gander. I guess for some it is sad that we don't just get to impugn the health and character of the ones we donjt like on the basis of our imaginations. But if this is working for the one, should't it work for the other. But I say, so what that Trump is a coke user!? His drug abuse and his womanizing and whatever else should play no part in this campaign.

MayBee said...

Let's imagine the former head of the RNC asking if Obama was a coke user during a presidential debate.
How much would we hear about that?

MayBee said...

But I say, so what that Trump is a coke user!?

Do you mean so what *if* he is a coke user?

Nonapod said...

Someone has already made a montage... because internet.

Clayton Hennesey said...

I noticed that Trump tended to do the loud air intake, noticeable as it was, after predictable periods of talking. Talk, resupply lungs, talk. If he was experiencing any sort of nasal congestion that would obviously explain the noise.

MayBee said...

We are still hearing about how "racist" the birther movement was. That's why we are hearing about it now- to help Hillary with minorities. But you can say anything you want against Donald Trump. We won't be hearing questions about it in the next 3 presidential elections.

CStanley said...

My impression was that he had a cold, and then later in the evening I noticed his campaign person (Kelly Ann?) looked like her nose was red. Maybe the Clinton campaign spread their pneumonia germs over to the Trump camp.

Hunter said...

I tuned in a couple minutes after 9, when they were already answering the first question, and watched the whole debate. Not as background noise either. I never noticed any excessive sniffling or nose-wiping on Trump's part.

Either it happened in the 3 minutes I missed, or everyone else was hyper-focused (I'm sure some are always looking for something, anything, to needle Trump about) or I just can't be bothered to notice stupid things like that.

rehajm said...

He's on record as opposed but he may be a closet Diet Coke user.

Paul said...

It's allergy season. I'd say that's the most likely explanation. An allergy attack can come on suddenly and a runny nose is the most common symptom. It can also impart a bit of a mental fog.

I have to say though that the single most off putting attribute of either candidate by far was Clinton's fake and freakishly exaggerated smile. She looks like a psycho. Her transparent phoniness is why she lost badly in almost every snap poll in spite of Trump's inarticulate and unfocused delivery.

Amadeus 48 said...

I appears that Trump's nose needed to be riveted.

Obama said he did some blow. If Dean is right, does that make Trump even more qualified in Dean's eyes?

Hunter said...

Since we don't get a chance to talk about Howard Dean very often, I'll just add this YTMND I made several years ago. Enjoy.

MisterBuddwing said...

"Will you stop sniffing?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnv7tXEBATc

traditionalguy said...

Let me see here. One either can magically recover from passing out stage pneumonia in 2 hours or has advanced Parkinson's Disease, but the other one has a runny nose. Hmmm.

FullMoon said...

I did not notice the sniffing. Not only did Hillary survive, she actually looked good, relative to recent vids of her speeches.
Trump complained at the end about personal attacks. Was he saying "she started it" and now he will go low?

Hagar said...

Lysol and other office cleaning products can cause your nose to run.

damikesc said...

I know my allergies are pretty bad early in the fall.

But, no, had to be cocaine. Only logical conclusion.

I'll never forget the Dean Scream. It was like he channeled Ric Flair.

Don't insult Flair by comparing him to Dean.

SteveM said...

It's allergy season (mold and/or weed) here in the NY area where the debate was held. That being said, I found Trump's sniffling to be distracting. But this morning, in the "quiet" train car during my commute to NYC, I was driven up the wall by about 5 - 10 people doing the same sniffling every couple of minutes or so.

Hagar said...

I think Hillary! did a little better than The Donald, but both performed on such a low level that it won't matter much.
I still see a slow drift to Trump and Clinton stalled out, so a narrow Trump win provided nothing else happens between now and then.

Athol Dickson said...

Lots of people are commenting on this today around the interweb. It's interesting, because it shows how much time people spend talking about Trump, rather than actually listening to him speak. Anyone who has logged a few hours watching his speech videos knows he does this all the time. It's how the man breathes when he's speaking: for some reason, he pauses now and then to inhale deeply through his nose.

Matt Sablan said...

Have we ever had a debate with such a low bar of success for both candidates?

She didn't collapse: Win!

He didn't pound the table and say something racist: Win!

Darrell said...

I never noticed any excessive sniffling or nose-wiping on Trump's part.

Precisely. This is one of those internet memes cooked up by the Democrats out of whole cloth. Now every idiot saw sniffling. Hey. What about when Hillary evacuated her bowels and half the audience was gagging?

Bob Boyd said...

Hmmmm...I never noticed Trump's sniffing.
Now it will probably drive me crazy.

Laslo Spatula said...

What caught my eye was the microphone placement.

Hillary's was up below her chin, could pretty much speaker directly into it.

Trump's mic seemed a foot low for his height, causing him to hunch down to the mic during some statements.

Maybe just me.


I am The Replacement Laslo.

Meade said...

Like President Obama, Howard Dean knows illegal drug use first hand.

I think it's fair to ask whether or not Trump and Clinton currently use illegal drugs just as it's fair to ask where Clinton and Obama were the night of the Benghazi attacks — what they knew, when they knew it, and were either of them under the influence.



Quaestor said...

Quaestor wonders if Clinton's continuous lying is Evil-related. Quaestor is only asking. It is pretty hard not to be distracted by the mendacity.

Matt Sablan said...

I noticed some sniffing. But it isn't the exaggerated coke addict levels of sniffing that is being put forward.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I noticed that Trump tended to do the loud air intake, noticeable as it was, after predictable periods of talking. Talk, resupply lungs, talk. If he was experiencing any sort of nasal congestion that would obviously explain the noise

I'm wondering if it, the deep inhaling through the nose, is not an East Coast/New York type of learned affectation. I notice that Bill O'Reilly often does the same thing. Deep nasal inhale before beginning a string of words.

Quaestor said...

Trump's mic seemed a foot low for his height, causing him to hunch down to the mic during some statements.

A keen eye has our Lazlo.

A subtle conspiracy to make Clinton look poised and relaxed in comparison to a nervous and fidgety Trump.

Matt Sablan said...

Trump was always leaning over like a contestant on the Price is Right.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

It looked to me like alcoholic flop sweat, but I'm old school. Cocaine fits right into our 1970s retro movie.

Nonapod said...

Don't insult Flair by comparing him to Dean.

Apologies. The Nature Boy is definitely a far more classy person than Howard Dean. His alligator boots cost more than Howard Dean's house.

Bad Lieutenant said...

MayBee said...
But I say, so what that Trump is a coke user!?

Do you mean so what *if* he is a coke user?
9/27/16, 9:13 AM

Dear Maybee, you're a nice lady so I won't call you stupid but you seem to be taking him/her/it a bit seriously. When you slur you want to be as damaging as possible. There's no point in asking them to half-slur or semi-innuendo.

We've already had accusations of child rape, I only wonder whether next he will be "convicted" by the trolls of the world with incest with his daughters, or with his dead mother. Perhaps he murdered his father for the money. Perhaps he traveled in time and did evil in the past. "Hey, anything is possible!"

I think the observation was made, but his makeup was perfect-looked entirely normal, no orange or white eyes. She also looked well, got a perfect titration of modafnil and embalming fluid.

He won.

Chuck said...

Darrell said...
"I never noticed any excessive sniffling or nose-wiping on Trump's part."

Precisely. This is one of those internet memes cooked up by the Democrats out of whole cloth. Now every idiot saw sniffling. Hey. What about when Hillary evacuated her bowels and half the audience was gagging?


I am very pleased to announce that Ann Althouse has joined Chuck in the vast left-wing conspiracy opposing Donald Trump.

You see, I made the same observation last night and, well, you know how that goes.

Darrell said...

Idiot Chuck just weighed in.

Curious George said...

"Laslo Spatula said...
What caught my eye was the microphone placement.

Hillary's was up below her chin, could pretty much speaker directly into it.

Trump's mic seemed a foot low for his height, causing him to hunch down to the mic during some statements.

Maybe just me.

I am The Replacement Laslo."

You meant "up below her chins", right? Like in the turkey neck area.

gspencer said...

Kramer, "Well, here's to feeling good all the time."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USKes9sPibA

Laslo Spatula said...

" I was riveted by Trump's nose."

I've tried to come up with a joke that used 'rivulets' rather than rivets, but everything was hack.

Laslo would've known where to go with it.

I am The Replacement Laslo.

traditionalguy said...

Trump bending over the mike while his speech tone is somewhat subdued was a show of humbling himself. Ergo: He won as per Scott Adams formulae.

walter said...

I can picture Howie letting out one of those screams at the end of a long line of coke.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Sniffles could be the nickname for Donald Trump we have all be looking forward to.

jr565 said...

WHen Howard Dean had his yearrgh moment I wonder if he was doing speed.

Chuck said...

LOL! So Trump is now complaining that his mic was positioned badly and that is why he sounded like he was snorting.

No word on why Mrs. Clinton was not snorting.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

LOL! So Trump is now complaining that his mic was positioned badly and that is why he sounded like he was snorting.

No word on why Mrs. Clinton was not snorting.


Because she is a mouth breather? :-D

MAJMike said...

They say Dean has been observed sniffing bicycle seats in the parking lot of a local Junior High School.

Brando said...

"Trump said: "No sniffles. No. You know, the mic was very bad, but maybe it was good enough to hear breathing, but there was no sniffles." If you heard sniffles, you're wrong or the microphone was wrong."

Who are you going to believe, Trump or your lying ears?

There were definitely a lot of sniffles from him. It probably doesn't mean anything, maybe he has a cold or allergies, but to make up such a transparent and unnecessary lie? I guess when you're full of it over so much else it just comes naturally and he cannot control it.

JAORE said...

Dean should be ashamed.... he won't be because he's being lauded by his team.