Donald Trump has demanded Joe Biden takes a drug test ahead of the pair’s first head-to-head next month.
The 45th President will lock horns with his White House successor in Atlanta on June 27 during CNN’s primetime debate.
Trump, who agreed to the two-part televised showdown, shared his thoughts on Biden’s cognitive state and expressed doubts about whether his Democratic rival could take to the stage without additional support.
“I just want to debate this guy, but you know, I’m going to demand a drug test, by the way. I am, I really am,” Trump said.
Donald Trump demands Joe Biden takes drug test ahead of head-to-head debate
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He added: “I don’t want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite.”
There is no evidence to suggest Biden takes substances to assist his performances.
Trump peddled a similar claim during his failed 2020 US Presidential Election campaign when the 77-year-old became just the 11th Commander-in-Chief to fail to win re-election.
Responding at the time, the Biden campaign’s deputy manager Kate Bedingfield said: “Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words.
“If the President thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it.
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Donald Trump appears at Manhattan Criminal Court
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“We’d expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who p***d away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn’t make a plan to stop COVID-19.”
Following the Biden-Trump showdown on CNN next month, the pair will meet again for ABC’s debate on September 10.
The debates will bypass the Presidential Debate Commission which traditionally coordinates the process after conversations between staff from the two campaigns.
Biden’s team have insisted that the two debates do not include a live audience
The Trump campaign have reportedly agreed to Biden’s demands.
Joe Biden speaks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington
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An hour before CNN announced that it would host the first debate, President Biden released a clip on X confirming his willingness to take part.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate,” President Biden said.
“Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald.”
Trump responded on his own social media platform Truth Social.
He said: “Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced – He can’t put two sentences together! Crooked is also the WORST President in the history of the United States, by far.
Donald Trump will face off against Joe Biden in this year’s US election GETTY“It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy which is allowing the World to ‘Catch on Fire.'”
He added: “I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September.
“I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. ‘Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!'”
Trump and Biden held two debates ahead of the 2020 race for the White House.
US President Joe Biden is hoping to be elected for a second term as PotusReutersAnother event, sandwiched between both debates, was scheduled in Florida but was later cancelled after Trump contracted coronavirus.
Snap polls following the debates showed Biden edged-out his Republican rival in both Cleveland and Nashville.
The first debate was watched by at least 73.1 million viewers on television.
It was the third most watched debate in US history, with Trump and Hillary Clinton’s first debate in 2016 attracting 84 million viewers.
Ronald Reagan’s box office clash with Jimmy Carter also received more views, totalling 80.6 million in 1980.
Trump is hoping for a better performance this time around as the 45th President aims to become just the second Commander-in-Chief to serve two non-consecutive terms in the Oval Office.