Trump asks for Biden drug test before CNN debate — says he’ll take one too
Former President Donald Trump demanded Monday that President Biden undergo a drug test before Thursday’s first presidential debate — days after predicting that his rival would be “jacked up” on the CNN stage.
“DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN??? I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!” Trump, 78, wrote on Truth Social after he and his allies had repeatedly suggested that Biden, 81, will be medicated during the Atlanta forum.
Biden has been sequestered since last week at the Camp David presidential retreat in western Maryland, leading to dark suggestions from Republican circles about what the incumbent’s debate preparation may entail.
“There is no universe in which [Biden’s] not being medicated before the debate. If he wants to dispel that, he should offer to take a drug test, but we all know he won’t do that,” one Trump ally told The Post.
“I think it’s a fair question worth asking,” added campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. “If Biden wants to prove otherwise, why didn’t he commit to a drug test?”
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Post about whether he would undergo such screening.
In May, Trump told Republicans during a GOP dinner in Minnesota that he was going to “demand a drug test” before the debate because Biden was “as high as a kite” during his March State of the Union address.
Trump has not indicated that he will back out of debating Biden without a drug test, but did reiterate during a Saturday rally in Philadelphia that he believes Biden will likely get a pharmacological boost.
“Right now, Crooked Joe has gone to a log cabin to ‘study,’ ” Trump told supporters, referencing the Camp David stay.
“He’s sleeping now, because they want to get him good and strong. So a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the ass,” Trump said, adding: “He’ll come out all jacked up, right?”
Biden’s team directed The Post to campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu, who told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday that Trump was just talking “trash.”
“Trump’s going to talk trash like that all the time because that’s what he does,” Landrieu said. “The other day, you may remember, he was trying to question our president’s mental acuity, and he could not remember the name of his own doctor, so tell President Trump bring whatever he’s got — President Biden will be standing there ready for him.”
Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed concern for Biden over his frequent gaffes, mumblings, freezes, and wanderings in front of world leaders.
A recent Wall Street Journal report quoted lawmakers and staffers saying they have been worried about Biden’s decline — noting he speaks more softly during meetings and increasingly relies on notes and aides.
Biden’s campaign slammed the report at the time, with re-election campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez saying: “The only people willing to make these false claims are Trump’s MAGA Republicans in Congress.”
Biden, if re-elected, will be 86 at the end of his second four-year term.
His physical exams have never included the public results of a mental acuity test, despite polls showing a majority of Americans are concerned about his mental fitness.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who served as White House physician for former Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, sent a letter Monday to the president demanding he undergo a drug test before the debate.
“It’s a terrible reality that I am having to send a letter demanding President Biden submit to a drug test prior to this week’s debate, however, Americans are being left in the dark by a dishonest administration regarding what types of performance enhancing drugs Biden is using for high stakes events like the State of the Union,” Jackson said in a statement about his letter.
“If President Biden needs to take performance enhancing drugs in order to participate in this week’s debate, then it is imperative that he and his physician disclose that to the American people. Election Day is just around the corner, and voters deserve to have full transparency regarding the health of their Commander in Chief who is vying for this job for another term.”
