There's a tragic story behind the President's lifelong sobriety. Photo / AP
There's a tragic story behind the President's lifelong sobriety. Photo / AP
Donald Trump made a fleeting joke about not drinking alcohol at a press conference this morning.
On the back of an FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh, the President was asked whether he had concerns about the Supreme Court nominee if he lied about his drinking habits in testimony.
"I'm not a drinker. I can honestly say I never had a beer in my life. It's one of my only good traits," he responded.
"I never had a glass of alcohol. I never had alcohol, for whatever reason," he added.
"Can you imagine if I had? What a mess I would be. I would be the world's worst. I never drank, OK?"
Trump's delivery was lighthearted and drew laughter from the audience. But there's actually a tragic backstory behind why the President doesn't drink.
Last year, Trump gave an emotional speech declaring the opioid crisis in the United States a public emergency — and revealed that his older brother Freddy had suffered from alcoholism. Freddy died in 1981 aged just 43.
Speaking to a packed room of former addicts, parents of overdose victims and treatment specialists, he said addiction destroyed his sibling's life
"Great guy, best-looking guy. Best personality, much better than mine.
"But he had a problem, a problem with alcohol. And he would tell me, don't drink.
"He was substantially older and I listened to him and I respected. He's also added, don't smoke.
"But he would say it over and over again. And to this day I've never had a drink. And, I have no longing for it. I have no interest in it.
"To this day I've never had a cigarette. Don't worry those are only two of my good things — I don't want to tell you about the bad things. There's plenty of bad things too."
Donald Trump, left, had a very different life to his brother Fred, second from left. Photo / Instagram
Trump said his brother's life could serve as a lesson to prevent young people taking drugs.
"He (Fred) helped me. He guided me and he had a very, very, very tough life because of alcohol believes me. He was a strong guy, but it was a tough thing that he was going through," he said.
"But I learned because of Fred and that's what I think is so important. This was an idea I had — if we can teach young people not to take drugs, not to start, then it's really easy not to take them. I think that's going to be our most important thing.
"When I see my friend having difficulty with not having that drink at dinner — where it's literally impossible for them to stop.
