President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was not joking about the need for a drug test ahead of the first presidential debate with former Vice President Joe Biden.
“No. I’m not joking,” he said when asked about the idea during a White House press conference. “I’m willing to take a drug test, I think he should too.”
The president said that he watched previous Democrat debates where Biden was clearly “out of it” but that he appeared much better during the final primary debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“He was okay. I mean, he wasn’t great; he wasn’t terrible; he was okay,” Trump said.
Trump questioned how Biden turned around his debate performances despite earlier disasters.
“People say he was on performance-enhancing drugs; a lot of people have said that, a lot of people have written that,” Trump said.
Reporters challenged the president on his sources for the drug usage claim.
“You can check out the internet, you’ll see, plenty of people say it,” Trump said. “And whether he is or not, doesn’t matter; he can take a test and I can take a test too.”
The president has routinely questioned whether Biden has used some kind of drug to help him perform better in debates.
“Don’t underestimate him, look, he’s been doing this for 47 years,” Trump said last week. “You never know. They give him a big fat shot in the ass and he comes out, and for two hours, he’s better than ever before.”
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