Linda McMahon Draws Ire of Anti-Steroid Group Over Performance-Enhancing Drugs

One of the nation's top anti-steroid groups has laid the smackdown on Connecticut's Linda McMahon, blasting the Republican Senate candidate for her stance -- or lack thereof -- on performance-enhancing drugs.

The Taylor Hooton Foundation is accusing McMahon, a former chief executive at World Wrestling Entertainment, of not doing or saying enough to condemn the use of steroids among athletes, particularly wrestlers, Fanhouse reported.

"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."

Hooton's son, a high school athlete in Texas, committed suicide in 2003 after prolonged steroid use. Hooton tours the country talking to students about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs, and he's offering to meet with McMahon to educate her on the subject.

"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," he said.

Hooton said McMahon needs to be challenged "on the topic of steroid use in professional wrestling."

McMahon's camp has not responded.

Democrats, including McMahon's gubernatorial rival, Richard Blumenthal, have attacked the former CEO numerous times over steroids and her connection to pro wrestling.

In August, Sen. Robert Mendendez, who heads the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, accused McMahon of building "an empire peddling violent, sexually explicit material that glorified the exploitation of women and the mentally disabled."

Mendendez added: "Yet, it's McMahon's record outside the ring that is raising the most serious questions -- including steroid abuse running rampant under her watch."