Ronny Jackson says he'll ask Biden to take drug tests around debate

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) said Sunday that he will send a letter requesting President Biden take drug tests before and after Thursday’s debate against former President Trump.

Jackson, who served as Trump’s White House physician and medical adviser, also claimed in a Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” interview with Maria Bartiromo, without evidence, that Biden has been taking “performance-enhancing drugs.”

“I'm going to be demanding on behalf of many millions of concerned Americans right now that [Biden] submit to a drug test before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance-enhancing drugs,” Jackson said. “Because we see — we have 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 3.5 years.”

“And there's just really no way to explain that, other than he was on something, that they'd given him medications,” he continued.

Biden’s State of the Union performance was lauded by Democrats, with supporters saying the president appeared lively and energetic as he continues to fight concerns over his age.

Jackson noted he had sent five previous letters to the White House requesting that Biden take a cognitive test similar to the one he gave to Trump while he was president. The test, which Trump has repeatedly bragged that he “aced,” is intended to discover signs of Alzheimer’s and other cognitive diseases.

The congressman also speculated, again without evidence, that the president is being given drugs while at Camp David this week. Biden will spend the week before the debate at the presidential retreat as part of preparations. 

“I feel like this is probably what's going on over this week at Camp David,” Jackson said. “Part of that is probably experimenting with just getting the doses just right, because they have to treat his cognition.”

“They have to give him something to help him think straighter. They have to give him something to wake him up to — for his alertness,” he continued. “And then he's been agitated. We see that all the time. And that's a common — that's a common symptom or sign of this cognitive disorder that he seems to be suffering from.”

Jackson was criticized while serving his in his role as Trump’s physician for allegedly exaggerating Trump’s health for political reasons. Trump was a major backer of Jackson’s congressional campaign in 2020.

The congressman was also retroactively demoted from his rank of rear admiral in the Navy to captain in 2022 after an Inspector General’s report found that he became drunk and mistreated subordinates while he served as physician to the president.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.