Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney predicted that the only presidential debate of 2020 will be Tuesday night's face-off i...
Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney predicted that the only presidential debate of 2020 will be Tuesday night's face-off in Cleveland.
'Mr. Biden has more to lose from debating than he does to win,' Mulvaney said in an interview with Ireland's RTÉ. 'If he does have a gaffe of some significant import during the debate that by itself could ruin his presidential hopes and for that reason they'll be tremendous pressure on him to just do one debate.'
Mulvaney, who became the U.S.'s Special Envoy for Northern Ireland in May, also tried to suggest President Donald Trump has been joking around when he's repeatedly challenged Biden to take a drug test, like he did earlier Monday.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told Ireland's RTÉ that he believed there would only be one presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden
Mulvaney (right) suggested that if Biden made a gaffe at Tuesday night's Cleveland debate he would be under pressure to not participate in the other two that are scheduled
Mulvaney also said he thought Trump (pictured) was kidding about wanting Biden to get a drug test, despite the president saying Sunday in the briefing room he was not joking around
'I think the president is simply - I know the president, I know the president's sense of humor - I know not all folks appreciate or understand his sense of humor,' Mulvaney said. 'But I think his point was, just as his health was an issue during certain points of his presidency ... the health of a president is always a relevant issue, and for that reason, the health of a candidate for that office is always a relevant issue.'
As an example, Mulvaney pointed to the questions surrounding the president's November 2019 trip to Walter Reed Medical Center, which was explained away as Trump getting a start on his physical.
The president self-volunteered that there was chatter he had suffered from a 'mini-stroke,' allegations that weren't reported by any major news outlets, yet he denied online.
'I think it would be a lot of fun,' Mulvaney replied when asked if he thought the presidential candidates should take drug tests.
'It would be wonderful to see one of them do it and challenge the other one to do it, that's part of our little political fun we like to have with our races,' the former chief of staff and OMB head added.
Trump pushed back on the idea that he was joking during Sunday's White House press briefing.
'No, I'm not joking,' the president said. 'I mean, I'm willing to take a drug test.'
Trump said that Biden's debate performance was 'uneven' because he did better, in the president's eyes, against Bernie Sanders one-on-one in March than in previous debates with the larger Democratic field.
'And I always joke, but, you know, it is true: He was no Winston Churchill in debating, but he was fine. And people say he was on performance-enhancing drugs,' Trump told reporters. 'A lot of people have said that. A lot of people have written that.'
When asked who has said Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs, the president suggested it was people on the internet.
'So - so take a look at it. Take a look. Why don't you just check it? You can check out the internet. You'll see. Plenty of people say it,' Trump said in the briefing room. 'And whether he is or not, it doesn't matter, but I would love to take a test and he can take a test, too.'
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