On Sunday, Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, suggested that President Joe Biden undergo drug tests immediately before and after Thursday’s presidential debate.
“I will now demand, on behalf of 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 about Biden using drugs to enhance his debate performance during a rally in Philadelphia.
“So, just before debate time, he gets a kick in the ass, and that makes him want to step up. So it comes out, it will come out – OK. I say he’ll be out quick, right? Trump told his supporters at the rally.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on Jackson’s allegations may statement from spokesman Andres Bates, who told Politico at the time: “It says Republican officials can’t stop announcing how scared they are. [the] President’s State of the Union”.
Bates added: “But after losing every public and private negotiation with President Biden and seeing him succeed where they’ve failed on every scale, from actually rebuilding America’s infrastructure to actually reducing violent crime and competing with China — it follows that those same Republicans . officials confuse trust with drugs.”
Unsubstantiated accusations of Biden’s use of performance-enhancing drugs have been accompanied by attacks on the president’s age and mental health for another term at 81. Trump, who just turned 78, has also faced questions about his cognitive abilities, including when. He mistakenly identified Jackson as “Ronnie Johnson”. at a rally last weekend.
Biden campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu referred to the “Ronny Johnson incident” when asked by CNN last week about Trump’s false accusations that Biden used drugs.
“The other day, you remember, he was trying to question our president’s mental capacity and he couldn’t remember the name of his doctor, so tell President Trump: bring whatever you’ve got,” Landrieu said.
It’s not the first time the idea of drug tests has floated around a presidential debate. Trump on the eve of one of the general election debates in 2020 said that he would agree to undergo a drug test and “I think [Biden] should be too.”
In October 2016, Trump also said that he was ready for this drug testing before the presidential debate and asked then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to do the same.
A close Trump ally, Jackson has faced his share of scrutiny over his behavior in the White House. He joined the White House medical team He served as White House physician during the George W. Bush administration and under Barack Obama and Trump.
Jackson in 2018 withdrew his candidacy He was named head of the Department of Veterans Affairs after allegations emerged that he was sometimes drunk on the job and that he was known as the “candy man” among employees for dispensing prescription drugs without documentation.
At the time, Jackson called these claims “absolutely false and fabricated.”
A separate one 2021 report The Pentagon’s inspector general was alleged to have abused Jackson’s subordinates, including abusive behavior and sexual harassment. Jackson has denied the allegations.