Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said it's not expected that President Joe Biden will be "on cocaine" during Thursday's presidential debate, no matter what former President Donald Trump might suggest.
During an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday, Johnson talked about a recent Trump rally in which the former president mentioned the bag of cocaine found at the White House last year and told supporters that Biden is "gonna be so pumped up" at the debate.
The CNN anchor asked the Republican speaker to comment on Trump's accusation.
"Look, there's a lot of things that are said in jest," Johnson said. "Of course, no one expects that Joe Biden will be on cocaine."
Biden's advanced age and cognitive fitness have been a top concern for many Republicans and have come under intense scrutiny following special counsel Robert Hur's report earlier this year that described the Democrat incumbent as an "elderly man with a poor memory."
In light of that, Johnson said it "makes sense" for people to question the president's ability to perform his job.
Describing Biden's energy levels and behavior as concerning, the speaker speculated that it's more likely he will use "energy drinks or something" to boost his debate performance.
He also pointed to the 81-year-old commander in chief's "inflammatory" State of the Union address in March. Trump and others have suggested that Biden's energy during the speech was due to performance-enhancing drugs.
"The question is, is can he stay for 90 minutes on that stage and go toe-to-toe with President Trump, who goes to rallies and talks for two hours without notes," Johnson said. "So, it'll be a very interesting thing to see."
In an interview with Newsmax on Sunday, former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, theorized that Biden would be given something ahead of the debate to give him an edge on stage.
"I'm going to be demanding, on behalf of many millions of concerned Americans right now, that he submit to a drug test before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance-enhancing drugs," Jackson said. "Because we've seen recently in his State of the Union address that there was a Joe Biden that came out that was not similar at all to what we see on a day-to-day basis for the last three and a half years."
For his part, Trump has called for Biden to take a drug test before the debate and said Monday that he would take one as well.
"DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN???" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!"
The first presidential debate is slated for Thursday at 9 p.m. ET and will be broadcast from CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It will be moderated by network anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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