President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has declined calls from former President Donald Trump and Republicans to take a drug test before their presidential debate. This issue came to the forefront when Biden campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod addressed it during an appearance on CNN.
When asked about Trump’s demand for Biden to undergo a drug test prior to the debate on Thursday, Elrod expressed bewilderment, referencing similar accusations Trump made against Hillary Clinton during her campaign. “I worked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign, you know, she also debated him very effectively. He accused her of being on drugs,” Elrod said.
The accusations of Biden using performance-enhancing drugs have been a recurring theme since 2020, with the Biden team consistently denying these claims. Trump had been joking about this possibility for months before formally calling for Biden to take a drug test on Monday. On Truth Social, Trump wrote, “DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN??? I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!”
The Biden campaign has largely dismissed these accusations. On Monday, they highlighted remarks by Biden campaign co-chairman Mitch Landrieu during an appearance on Meet the Press. Landrieu responded to Trump’s provocations by saying, “Trump’s going to talk trash like that all the time because that’s what he does. The other day, you may remember, he was trying to question our president’s mental acuity, and he could not remember the name of his own doctor, so tell President Trump, bring whatever he’s got — President Biden will be standing there, ready for him.”
