Senate Candidate Linda McMahon Ripped for Stance on Steroids

Filed under: Pro WrestlingLinda McMahon's stance on performance-enhancing drugs has led the Senate candidate and former WWE executive to become the target of the Taylor Hooton Foundation, one of the nation's top anti-steroid groups.

"She has refused to concede that steroid use is dangerous," the foundation's founder, Don Hooton, said in a statement released Monday. "Speaking as a father who has lost his son to steroids, I can assure her and the good people of Connecticut that these drugs are not just dangerous, they can be deadly."

The topic of performance-enhancing drugs has dogged McMahon, a Republican, in her campaign for the Senate in Connecticut. Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic nominee, has attacked McMahon on the subject on several occasions, even citing the deaths of seven former WWE wrestlers since she began her campaign and the fact that her company suspended its drug testing for a decade before it launched a new program four years ago.

A message left with McMahon's campaign office was not immediately returned.

Hooton said neither he nor the foundation will take a position on the campaign or offer advice on how Connecticut residents should vote come Nov. 2. But he decided the subject was "important and very timely to challenge her on the topic of steroid use in professional wrestling."

Hooton's son, a high school athlete in Texas, committed suicide in 2003 after abruptly halting a cycle of steroids. Hooton has testified in front of Congress on multiple occasions and tours the country to educate youth about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs -- and he's offered to do the same for McMahon.

"I would be delighted to sit down with her and tell her about our experience with my son Taylor as well as the stories of many other families that we've met around the country," Hooton said. "Mrs. McMahon should know that our view as to the dangers of these drugs is shared by every reputable doctor not just in America, but around the world."

Hooton added that McMahon should face the same kind of scrutiny as executives of the four major sports in the U.S. have faced over the years on the topic of steroids, especially since he said McMahon "may have been more involved in steroid use than just turning a blind eye."

"At a time when this threat is growing, we don't need a lawmaker who has actively condoned -- at minimum through inaction -- unlawful steroid use," Hooton said.

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