President Joe Biden ridiculed the idea that he would turn to performance-enhancing drugs on Thursday, just before CNN’s presidential debate with former President Donald Trump in Atlanta.
“I don’t know what it is about these performance enhancers, but I’m very excited,” Biden wrote on social media. “Try it for yourself, folks.”
The president’s account shared a photo of Biden holding a specially labeled can of water, with the “Dark Brandon” meme. The can says “Zero Malarkey” and “Get real, Jack, it’s just water.”
The campaign put the water cans in their websiteoffering followers a souvenir can for a donation of $4.60.
President Joe Biden ridiculed the idea that he was taking performance-enhancing drugs before the first presidential debate.
For weeks, Donald Trump has fueled speculation that President Joe Biden might be on drugs during their 90-minute presidential debate on Thursday.
“A drug test for corrupt Joe Biden? I would also agree, immediately, with one,” Trump declared this week.
Echoing those demands, Ronny Jackson, a Republican congressman, Trump supporter and White House physician to President Barack Obama, sent a letter to the White House physician on Monday asking that Biden get tested before the showdown.
Biden’s team responded Wednesday by dismissing the Trump team’s requests as “silly.”
Campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod noted that the former president made almost the same accusations against Hillary Clinton before their debates in 2016, as well as against Biden before they faced each other for the first time in 2020.
While there is no evidence that Biden or Clinton ever used ‘performance-enhancing’ drugs during debates, that hasn’t stopped rampant speculation among voters and in the media: Does debate juice even exist?
Brett O’Donnell, a veteran Republican consultant who has groomed top GOP contenders for decades, said he has never come across any “miracle drug” capable of transforming a candidate into a debate powerhouse.
O’Donnell, who has coached such figures as President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain, recalled that some candidates took vitamin B-12 injections in hopes of sharpening their concentration and increasing their energy levels.
And as Director of Debate at Liberty University for nearly two decades, O’Donnell said some of his students swore by bee pollen — a natural mix of flower pollen, bee secretions, honey, wax and enzymes.
Neither supplement, O’Donnell says, makes much of a difference.
“A DRUG TEST FOR CORRUPT JOE BIDEN? I’D TAKE ONE TOO RIGHT AWAY!” Trump wrote on social media this week.
President Joe Biden, 81, continues to show signs of physical and mental decline, but there is no evidence he is using performance-enhancing drugs to get through the day.
He suggests that Biden and Trump rely on Red Bull and energy drinks to deliver proven results.
Last week, podcaster Joe Rogan proposed that the president’s team ‘fills’ him with ‘cognitive enhancers’ like Adderall, testosterone and human growth hormone.
Bob Reilly, crew chief and videographer Chris Hanson, above, both of CSpan, prepared for the upcoming CNN presidential debate.
US President Joe Biden waves as he heads aboard Marine One. The president has spent the week preparing for the first presidential debate of 2024
But Dr. Carole Lieberman, a physician and psychiatrist, who has raised questions about Biden’s mental fitness in the past, told DailyMail.com that some of Rogen’s prescriptions seem exaggerated.
“Pharmaceutical stimulants like Adderall,” Lieberman said, run the risk of raising heart rate and blood pressure to dangerous levels.
Testosterone can cause blood clots and trigger mood swings, especially when a person is under pressure.
All of these would surely be unacceptable risks for a commander-in-chief.
Rogan also suggested that Biden be given “NAD infusions and intravenous vitamin infusions several days in a row” in the run-up to the showdown.
NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme that can be prescribed to boost the metabolism of aging individuals. Intravenous infusions can quickly address vitamin deficiencies.
This combination of photos taken in Columbia, South Carolina, shows former President Donald Trump, left, on Feb. 24, 2024, and President Joe Biden on Jan. 27, 2024. The Biden-Trump clash on Thursday, June 27, may be the most consequential presidential debate in decades.
Dr. Lieberman said both treatments can gradually help you focus and concentrate, but there are possible side effects, such as brain fog.
The drug modafinil is a non-amphetamine stimulant that is commonly prescribed to treat extreme sleepiness due to narcolepsy or other sleep disorders, such as Biden’s sleep apnea.
In March, the president’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, revealed that Biden had begun using a continuous positive airway pressure machine to treat the condition.
However, Dr. Lieberman said she doubted the president’s doctor would prescribe such a powerful drug.
Treating moderate sleep apnea with modafinil would be like “using a hammer to kill a fly,” he said, and the drug’s worrisome side effects, including headache, nausea, nervousness and dizziness, would likely outweigh any potential benefits.
Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk, a primary care physician specializing in senior care, warned that Adderall would be too risky for both Biden, 81, and Trump, 72.
“Rather than improving their debate skills, taking stimulants of this type will decrease their performance, making them appear ‘excited,’ irritable, confused, and unable to filter out the inappropriate,” he said.
He also expressed concern that Biden’s advanced age would make it dangerous for him to take pharmaceutical stimulants, warning of a heart attack or stroke.
Medical experts contacted by DailyMail.com concluded that there is really only one way for an 81-year-old man – or anyone – to physically prepare for a public debate.
“Stimulants, other than a cup of coffee, do not improve your mood,” Landsverk said. “Instead, I would recommend getting a good night’s sleep and taking a brisk walk right before to get your blood circulating.”