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Newsweek Writer Issues Bizarre Claim About Trump and Drugs

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Kurt Eichenwald, a senior writer at Newsweek and frequent critic of President Donald Trump, escalated his war of words last week with a series of tweets in response to the 11th hour firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

It was Attorney General Jeff Sessions who officially fired McCabe just 26 hours before he was set to retire with a full pension, citing a yet-to-be-released inspector general’s report concluding the high-ranking FBI official “lacked candor” during testimony under oath.

Numerous pundits, however, have cited Trump’s consistent and public ridicule of McCabe on Twitter as evidence that Sessions’ marching orders came from the Oval Office.

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Eichenwald ran with that talking point Saturday morning, just as news of McCabe’s firing late the previous night had begun to spread widely.

The author and commentator called Trump a “criminal and former drug addict” in his first tweet on the topic, arguing that the president is “unworthy to lick dirt off of Andrew McCabe’s shoes.”


Juxtaposing the perceived life missions of the two men, Eichenwald implied that Trump “spent his life breaking laws and destroying people” while McCabe “risked his life enforcing laws to help people.”

Several hours later, Eichenwald doubled down on his allegation regarding Trump’s former drug use, insisting he leveled only claims that he “can prove.”


In his subsequent tweet, he claimed Trump “managed, with medical help, to get off the amphetamine derivatives in 1990” after eight years of dependency.

Did Kurt Eichenwald's tweets go too far?

“I know nothing about whether he used again,” Eichenwald wrote.

While some of the outspoken writer’s followers seemed eager to believe the latest accusations against Trump, even some of the administration’s detractors saw the tweets as inappropriate for a variety of reasons.

Some simply disputed the veracity of his claims.


Others argued that even if Eichenwald’s claims are true, Trump should not be condemned as a human for struggling with addiction.

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Later in the day, another Trump-themed tweet took aim at the Christian conservatives who he claimed have lost their credibility by supporting the administration.


“You threw your hand away with Donald Trump,” he wrote. “No one – NO ONE – will ever listen to conservative political Christians again without laughing.”

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Chris Agee is an American journalist with more than 15 years of experience in a wide range of newsrooms.
Chris Agee is an American journalist with more than 15 years of experience in a variety of newsroom settings. After covering crime and other beats for newspapers and radio stations across the U.S., he served as managing editor at Western Journalism until 2017. He has also been a regular guest and guest host on several syndicated radio programs. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife and son.
Birthplace
Virginia
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Texas Press Association, Best News Writing - 2012
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism - Averett University
Professional Memberships
Online News Association
Location
Arizona
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment




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