The White House reportedly denied allegations that President Joe Biden took drugs to perk up ahead of his State of the Union speech earlier this year.
White House Spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement over the weekend that Republican officials who question Biden’s SOTU performance were mistaking drug use with “confidence,” according to POLITICO. Republicans in recent days have called for Biden to submit to a drug test ahead of a debate with former president Donald Trump, often citing the president’s “surreal” SOTU address.
“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 said. “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.”
For the past week, multiple prominent Republicans have pointed to the president’s SOTU performance as evidence that Biden, 81, potentially used substances to increase his energy ahead of the major event. Republicans have floated the idea that the president could use substances ahead of a debate with Trump.
When Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) was asked on Fox News over the weekend if Biden should submit a drug test before the debate, Scott responded: “Why not?”
“The truth of the matter is if you saw the State of the Union and you watched that performance, it was surreal. There was something going on, and if we could find the truth of what it was, we’re all better off,” Scott said. “If it takes artificial stimulation to make the President of the United States perform, how often can he do that?”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) raised concerns that mental impairment could hamper Biden’s ability to perform presidential duties.
“We’re talking about someone who has the ability to launch nukes,” Luna said.
At a rally last week, Trump said Biden looked “high as a kite” the night of the State of the Union address.
“I just want to debate this guy … and I’m going to demand a drug test too, by the way,” Trump said. “I am. No, I really am.”
“I don’t want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite,” he continued. “I said is that Joe up there? … And by the end of the evening … he was exhausted, right? No, we’re going to demand a drug test.”
