Ex-White House physician demands Biden drug test before Trump debate

A former White House doctor has argued that US President Joe Biden should be subjected to drug tests at this week’s debate with Republican challenger Donald Trump to check whether he’s taking performance-enhancing substances to cover up his allegedly declining cognitive health.

Dr. Ronny Jackson, who served as White House physician in the Trump and Obama-Biden administrations, said he has reason to believe Biden will be drugged to boost his mental sharpness in Thursday’s presidential debate. The doctor, now a Republican congressman representing Texas, added that he suspected Biden took drugs before his State of the Union speech in March.

“It’s really embarrassing, as a former White House physician, to have to do something like this, but we don’t have any choice, based on what’s going on,” Jackson said on Sunday in a Fox News interview. “But I’m going to be demanding, on behalf of many millions of concerned Americans right now, that he submit to a drug test before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance-enhancing drugs.”

At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in US history, and he would be 86 by the end of his second term if he wins reelection in November. Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly mocked Biden’s frequent mental gaffes and physical stumbles. A New York Times poll released in April showed that 72% of US voters, including over half of Democrats, believe Biden is too old to be an effective president.

Jackson has repeatedly sent letters to the White House demanding that the president take a cognitive test to prove his mental fitness for the job. He said Biden and his staff ignored those demands. The congressman administered such a test to Trump in 2019, and the then-president passed the exam.

Biden is reportedly spending a full week at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland to prepare for the debate. Jackson said he believes part of the reason for the president’s long absence from the White House is that his aides are fine-tuning the dosages for the drugs he will be taking on debate night.

“They have to treat his cognition, they have to give him something to help him think straighter, they have to give him something to wake him up, for his alertness,” the doctor claimed. “And then, you know, he’s been agitated. We see that all the time, and that’s a common symptom, or sign, of this cognitive disorder that he seems to be suffering from. So, they’re probably going to give him something to take the edge off that as well.”

The Biden campaign has denied that the president uses any drugs, calling accusations by Trump “a bizarre outburst.” Speaking at a political rally on Saturday in Philadelphia, Trump joked that Biden is sleeping at Camp David to rest up for the debate.

“They want to get him good and strong, so a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the ass,” Trump told the crowd. “I say he’ll come out all jacked up, right? All jacked up.”