Trump Jr. pushes back on Pelosi asking if steroids influenced the president

Donald Trump Jr. pushed back on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday after the Democratic leader questioned whether steroids influenced President Trump’s abrupt decision to halt coronavirus relief negotiations.

Pelosi floated the question on a call with Democratic lawmakers Tuesday, after Trump tweeted to announce he had ordered officials to stop negotiating over another relief bill until after the November election.

“Believe me, there are people … who think that steroids have an impact on your thinking. So, I don’t know,” Pelosi had said on the call, according to two sources.

Trump has been prescribed a steroid among other drugs to treat COVID-19, which he was diagnosed with last week.

“Well, you know, Nancy has her own substance issues, according to the press and according to the media, so I won’t get into that,” Trump Jr. claimed during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “It’s obviously nonsense.”

Pelosi’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on Trump Jr.’s remarks.

Asked whether steroids could be influencing his father’s thinking, Donald Trump Jr baselessly accuses Nancy Pelosi of having “her own substance issues.” pic.twitter.com/N2tNAMDnhM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 7, 2020

During his appearance, Trump Jr. promoted the Republican argument that the Speaker and Democrats were pushing for “a trillion dollars of excess nonsense to bail out Democrat cities” as part of the negotiations.

Pelosi has pushed for a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for state and local governments, money the GOP has panned.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who had represented the administration in stimulus talks, had been hesitant to clear a bill going above $1.6 trillion.

Trump Jr. accused the Democratic leader of having “the American taxpayer” pay for “her radical left agenda.”

“Donald Trump simply wants to get money to the American people,” Trump Jr. told Fox News. “But if the Democrats continue to do this — to try to drive that narrative as though they pulled out, it’s absolutely asinine.”

“They asked for a wish list of totally ridiculous things — things that have nothing to do with getting the economy going,” he added. “Things that would only be there to fund, again, a radical leftist Democrat wish list. Primarily, again, cashless bail, funding for illegal immigrants.”

President Trump cut off negotiations on an overall coronavirus stimulus package Tuesday, alleging Democrats were “not negotiating in good faith.” Hours later, he advocated for certain provisions that had been part of the talks, such as legislation for stimulus checks, assistance for the airline industry and small business loans.

His declaration of support for these measures came after stocks nosedived following his announcement that negotiations on a stimulus package would stop until after the Nov. 3 elections.

The president made the announcement a day after he returned to the White House after spending three nights at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to his positive coronavirus test last week and reported low blood oxygen level. 

Trump was given a cocktail of therapeutics including dexamethasone, which seems to increase the survival rate of severely sick COVID-19 patients but also can cause mood swings.

— Scott Wong contributed.