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| - As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump watched Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket launch in Texas in November 2024, eagle-eyed viewers noted his son Donald Trump Jr.'s actions in one video. According to a number of posts on X and YouTube, the younger Trump appeared to be rubbing his gums with his finger, leading to many claims that he was using cocaine in his father's presence.
A number of anti-Trump accounts shared clips of the moment. One post stated: "Don Jr. nonchalantly rubbing cocaine on his gums while standing next to his daddy in front of TV cameras speaks volumes."
We looked at footage from the moment in question, and other times when the younger Trump stood near his father at the event. At this moment, there is no evidence to support the claim there was cocaine in his pocket or that he was rubbing it over his gums. Because of this, we rate the claim as unfounded.
We watched livestream footage of the event on Forbes magazine's YouTube page. The moment in question can be seen at the 20:24 mark:
The moment shows Donald Trump Jr. climbing up a few steps to stand alongside his father and Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson. He has his hand in his pocket, pulls it out and puts his finger in his mouth, rubbing it on his gums.
Some drug users do rub cocaine on their teeth or gums, though it is also ingested by snorting through the nose, or injecting oneself, or through smoking.
However, it is pure speculation that the younger Trump was rubbing cocaine on his gums. Early in the video he can be seen standing around and chatting with other attendees. In one moment he also touches his nose and runs his fingers across his beard. With the same right hand he prods his daughter's head in a playful way. Later on he runs those fingers over his gums. There are numerous possibilities about what he could have been doing, including trying to pull something out from his teeth.
The political comedy show "The Daily Show" has poked fun at Donald Trump Jr., speculating that he uses cocaine, even though he said in the past cocaine is "not my thing." In a video titled "Cocaine News with Don Jr." from May 2024, the show insinuated he was using drugs based on his behavior on his podcast:
Until and unless we receive independent confirmation of Donald Trump Jr.'s alleged drug habits, or he admits to using cocaine, or actual evidence is put forward that he was rubbing it on his gums, this claim is unfounded.
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