President Trump on Tuesday reiterated his call for both candidates to take a drug test ahead of the presidential debates this month, claiming without evidence that Democratic nominee Joe Biden is “on some kind of an enhancement.”
“He’s on some kind of an enhancement in my opinion,” Trump told Laura Ingraham on Fox News. “And I say we should both — I should take a drug test, so should he. Because we don’t want to have a situation where a guy is taking some kind of…”
“It’s like athletes?” Ingraham asked, seeking clarity on what Trump was alleging.
“No. No. I want to take one,” Trump said. “I’ll take one, he’ll take one. We should both take a drug test.”
The president built his claim around the idea that Biden had dramatically improved his debate performance before his one-on-one debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in March, during the Democratic presidential primary.
Trump last week first raised the idea of drug testing for him and Biden before the debates this fall. He made a similar argument then, and offered no evidence to support his suggestion that Biden’s improvement could have been the result of drugs.
The president made the same demand during the 2016 cycle, saying he and then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton should be tested.
Biden participated in 11 primary debates, most of which were against a crowded field of other contenders, but the last one was on March 15 against just Sanders. The Trump campaign has spent recent months asserting that Biden has declined mentally, sharing edited clips that show him stumbling over his words.