GOP representative Ronnie Jackson of Texas, a former White House physician, introduced the president on Sunday Joe Biden must submit to drug tests immediately before and after Thursday’s presidential debate.
“I will now demand, on behalf of many millions of concerned Americans, that he submit to drug testing before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance-enhancing drugs,” Jackson told Fox News.
Former President Donald Trump made similar comments at a rally in Philadelphia about Biden’s use of drugs to improve his debate performance.
“So shortly before debate time he gets a shot in the ass and that is – they want to make him stronger. So he comes out, he comes out – okay. I say he’ll come out all worked up, right?’ Trump told his supporters at the rally.
Asked to comment on Jackson’s allegations, a White House spokesperson last month pointed to a statement from spokesman Andrew Bates, who told Politico: “It’s telling that Republican officials can’t stop announcing how intimidated they remain by [the] President’s State of the Union address.”
Bates added: “But after losing all the public and private negotiations with President Biden — and after seeing him succeed where they failed across the board, from actually rebuilding America’s infrastructure to actually rolling back violent crime to actually outcompeting China – it appears that these same Republican officials are confusing trust with a drug.”
Unsubstantiated allegations that Biden used performance-enhancing drugs join attacks on the president’s age and mental fitness as he seeks another term at 81. Trump, who just turned 78, has also faced questions about his cognitive skills, including when he incorrectly identified Jackson. as “Ronny Johnson” during a rally last weekend.
When asked by CNN last week about Trump’s false accusations that Biden was using drugs, Biden campaign co-chairman Mitch Landrieu referred to the “Ronny Johnson incident.”
“Recently, as you may recall, he tried to question the mental acuity of our president and he couldn’t remember the name of his own doctor, so tell President Trump: bring what he’s got,” Landrieu said.
This isn’t the first time the idea of drug testing has come up during a presidential debate. In 2020, ahead of one of their general election debates, Trump said he would be willing to take a drug test and “I think [Biden] should do the same.”
In October 2016, Trump also expressed his willingness to take a drug test before a presidential debate and asked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to do the same.
Jackson, a close ally of Trump, has faced criticism for his behavior in the White House. He joined the White House medical team during the George W. Bush administration and was the White House physician under Barack Obama and Trump.
In 2018, Jackson withdrew his appointment to head the Department of Veterans Affairs after allegations surfaced that he was sometimes drunk while on duty and was known as the “candy man” among staff members for dispensing prescription drugs without paperwork.
At the time, Jackson called the allegations “completely false and fabricated.”
A 2021 report from the Defense Department’s inspector general alleged misconduct by Jackson, including abusive behavior and sexual harassment of subordinates. Jackson has denied these allegations.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
