United States President Donald Trump said he was “strongly demanding” his opponent, Joe Biden, take a drug test either before or after the pair’s first debate on Tuesday.
He added he would also be willing to take a drug test.
“Naturally, I will agree to take one also. His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy???” Trump tweeted Sunday.
Global News has reached out to Biden’s campaign office over the U.S. president’s claims and is awaiting a response.
In a series of tweets earlier that day, Trump also urged the American people to “WATCH THE BALLOTS!!!” and accused Michael Bloomberg, a former U.S. presidential candidate, of “bribing ex-prisoners to go out and vote for Sleepy Joe.”
“Wow, nobody realized how far Mini Mike Bloomberg went in bribing ex-prisoners to go out and vote for Sleepy Joe,” the tweet read.
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“He is desperate to get back into the good graces of the people who not only badly beat him, but made him look like a total fool. Now he’s committed a serious crime!”
This is not the first time Trump has suggested he believes Biden is using drugs. Several weeks ago, he called for his Democratic rival to get a drug test because “we don’t want to have a situation like we could have with this guy.”
Tuesday night’s long-anticipated presidential debate has highlighted key contrasts in each leader’s approach, with Trump reportedly skipping all formal preparation and Biden staging apparent mock debates to avoid getting bogged down in confrontations with his opponent on-stage.
“Arguing over facts, litigating whether what he’s saying is accurate, that is not winning to Biden,” Jen Psaki, a former Obama aide who is close to Biden’s team, said in a previous interview with the Associated Press.
“This is an opportunity to speak directly to the American people. His objective should be to speak directly to them, but not be pulled in by Trump. That is hard.”
Jay Carney, a former aide to Biden and former president Barack Obama, previously said he expected Trump would throw “everything he can” at Biden during the debate.
“My guess is that they’re preparing for that — bombarding him with insults and weird digressions,” he said.
“I think it’s an important moment — I think it’s really important for President Trump, because the direction of this election has been pretty stable for a long time now, and he needs to shake it up as any candidate would who’s behind… The question is, can that work?”
— With files from the Associated Press
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