Obama, Trump doctor demands Biden be drug tested before CNN debate
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a former White House family physician to both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, has called for President Joe Biden to undergo drug testing before and after his upcoming debate with Trump on CNN.
Speaking on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo, Jackson said he plans to send a formal request to Biden, his physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, and will CC the entire Cabinet.
“I’m going to be demanding, on behalf of many millions of concerned Americans right now, that (the president) submit to a drug test before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance-enhancing drugs,” Jackson said. “It’s embarrassing that I have to do this, and 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.”
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Jackson indicated that this demand was prompted by suspicions surrounding Biden’s enhanced performances, which some speculate might be due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The call for Biden’s drug testing follows claims by some Republicans who suspect that the president might be using drugs to boost his performance before public appearances. These suspicions intensified after Biden’s dynamic display during this year’s State of the Union address, which was well-received by Democrats, The Daily Wire noted.
The White House, however, has dismissed such claims.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said last month, “It’s telling that Republican officials are unable to stop announcing how intimidated they remain by [the] president’s State of the Union performance.”
Bates added, “But after losing every public and private negotiation with President Biden — and after seeing him succeed where they failed across the board, ranging from actually rebuilding America’s infrastructure to actually reducing violent crime to actually outcompeting China — it tracks that those same Republican officials mistake confidence for a drug.”
In a detailed accusation, Jackson noted his concern specifically regarding the use of drugs that might be used to treat cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, which he suggests might be affecting Biden. “There’s just really no way to explain that, other than he was on something, that they’d given him medications,” he remarked. Jackson also mentioned drugs like Adderall and Provigil, which are known to enhance alertness.
Amid preparations for the upcoming debate, Biden is scheduled to spend a week at Camp David, which Jackson suspects might include trials to optimize drug dosages to enhance cognitive performance. “He’s going to be at Camp David for a full week before the debate,” Jackson noted. “Part of that is probably experimenting with just getting the doses just right, because they have to treat his cognition.”
Jackson has previously sent multiple letters to the White House requesting that Biden undergo a cognitive test similar to the one Trump took during his presidency. Trump has been a supporter of Jackson, including endorsing his congressional campaign in 2020.
Jackson’s credibility has been questioned in the past, The Hill noted. He was demoted from his rank of rear admiral to captain after an Inspector General’s report found that he had become intoxicated and mistreated subordinates while serving as physician to the president.
