Joe Biden’s campaign said President Trump’s demand on Sunday for the former vice president to be tested for drug use before their first de...
Joe Biden’s campaign said President Trump’s demand on Sunday for the former vice president to be tested for drug use before their first debate on Tuesday was ‘made in urine’.
‘Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words,’ Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said.
‘If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it.
‘We’d expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn't make a plan to stop COVID-19.’
The statement from the campaign was released after Biden himself was asked about Trump’s drug test comments.
President Trump (left) called for his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden (right), to be tested for performance-enhancing drugs before Tuesday's debate, prompting the Biden campaign to say that the demand was 'made in urine'
Trump on Sunday tweeted his demand that Biden take a drug test before the first presidential debate on Tuesday
The Democratic nominee chuckled momentarily and started answering the question.
‘He’s almost…’ Biden said during an appearance in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday before catching himself.
‘No, I have no comment,’ the former vice president said.
Trump again pressured debate organizers on Sunday to administer a drug test before the first face-off with Biden as the Democratic nominee continues to surge in polls just two days ahead of the event.
Trump insisted that the Democratic nominee could only perform well at the debate if he takes narcotics.
'I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night,' the president tweeted Sunday morning.
'Naturally, I will agree to take one also,' Trump continued. 'His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy???'
Trump and Biden will participate in three in-person debates ahead of the November election – the first, moderated by Fox News' Chris Wallace, is taking place Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio.
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll released Sunday shows Biden with a 10-point lead against Trump. The 54 per cent to 44 per cent margin matches the last poll taken in mid-August.
When considering voters who say they will cast their ballot for a libertarian or Green Party candidate, Biden's lead slips to a 6 per cent margin of 49 per cent to 43 per cent.
When it comes to both enthusiasm for his candidacy and the economy, however, Trump dominates.
Trump leads Biden by 20 per cent among likely voters who say they have 'strong enthusiasm' for their preferred candidate. Fifty-nine per cent of those polled who do not support Trump say his reelection would be a 'crisis' for the country.
On the other hand-, 50 per cent of those not backing Biden say his election would cause a crisis in the U.S.
The economy, one of the six issues that will be discussed during Tuesday's debate, is in Trump's favor.
Last month only 31 per cent of Americans said the U.S. economy was in good shape, compared to the 40 per cent who say it's in good shape now in the poll taken September 21-24.
One in four voters say the economy is their top issue in the 2020 election and of those voters a whopping 62 per cent favor Trump to Biden.
At the debate Tuesday Trump and Biden will also be asked to discuss their government records, the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic, race and violence and election integrity.
Although Trump has conceded Biden may perform better at the debates due to his near-debate of experience in Washington, he also claims the 'low energy' candidate could only do well if medicated.
Trump said last month of Biden's previous debate performances against then-primary competitor Bernie Sanders: 'Nobody thought that he was even going to win. Because his debate performances were so bad. Frankly, his best performance was against Bernie.'
Trump made the comments during an interview with the Washington Examiner.
'We're going to call for a drug test, by the way, because his best performance was against Bernie,' Trump continued.
He added: 'It wasn't that he was Winston Churchill because he wasn't, but it was a normal, boring debate. You know, nothing amazing happened. And we are going to call for a drug test because there's no way — you can't do that.'
Biden participated in 11 debates during the primary season, as plans for the 12th debate were never finalized in the midst of the evolving coronavirus pandemic.
This is not the first time Trump has accused his competitors of being on drugs.
After the second presidential debate in October 2016, he claimed that Hillary Clinton did better because she had taken drugs.
'I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate. We should take a drug test prior because I don't know what's going on with her,' Trump said at the time – and no drug tests were administered during those debates.
Trump's two other debates against Biden will take place October 15 in Miami, Florida and October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee. They will be moderated by C-SPAN's Steve Scully and NBC's Kristen Welker, respectively.
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