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Ex-President Donald Trump, on Wednesday, insinuated a recently discovered packet of cocaine at the White House to be possibly linked to President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
The discovery of the substance was made during a customary security check by the U.S. Secret Service agents in the West Wing, an area often visited by both staff and guests. Trump, rather inventively, found himself an opportunity to stoke conjecture in his seemingly harmless public remarks.
For one, he questioned if anyone genuinely thought that the cocaine found in such close proximity to the Oval Office could have been for anyone else but the Bidens. As part of a strategic move in his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, the public insinuation was made on his personal social media website.
He didn’t hold back and even went further to preemptively critique the media. ‘Look out, soon the Fake News Media will downplay this by saying that the amount found was ‘insignificant’ and that it was not really cocaine but rather something mundane like ground up Aspirin, leading to the story’s untimely disappearance’, was his warning to his followers.
Ironically, his prediction fell short. The story didn’t fade into oblivion like he hinted but took center stage on Wednesday.
Lab results confirmed that the substance was indeed cocaine, prompting a Republican senator to demand an explanation from the Secret Service on how the drug had found its way into the confined spaces of the White House. The burning questions about the details kept coming from press reporters.
White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, whilst addressing the curious reporters on Wednesday, said that the location where the suspicious white powder was found, was a ‘frequently-visited’ area that welcomed a multitude of visitors.
To further fuel the speculation, she mentioned that there had been staff tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
To clear the air on the whereabouts of the presidential family when this happened, she said that ‘the president, the first lady, and their family were out of town during the weekend.’
Jean-Pierre insisted that the Secret Service would handle the investigation on its own, keeping the White House’s involvement at bay.
It’s public knowledge that the president’s son, Hunter, has bravely shared his own experiences with alcohol and crack cocaine addiction before. As for President Biden, he is widely recognized for his austere lifestyle devoid of alcohol, with no record of recreational drug use to date.
In the same vein, Trump, ever so willing to fan the flames of conspiracy, made an unsubstantiated remark on Wednesday about Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecutor. Smith was appointed by the Justice Department to oversee the proceedings against the former president.
In his characteristic style, he attempted to throw a wrench into the works by suspecting Smith’s possible nearness to the discovery site of the drug. In his words, he asked if this ‘Unhinged Jack Smith, the rabid, Trump-loathing Special Prosecutor, was spotted around the COCAINE?’
Then, in what seems to be a casual but derogatory observation he underscored with, ‘In my eyes, he sure does seem to fit the part of a crackhead!’ The public comment was made in Trump’s typical flare for controversy, adding more tension to an already enveloped in mystery situation.
With these layered insinuations, the former president was able to turn the conversation from a routine security discovery and into the field of public speculation and suspicion.
