Former WH doctor Ronny Jackson demands Biden takes drug test before debate

Texas Republican lawmaker Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician to the president, urged President Joe Biden on Monday to take a drug test before he takes the debate stage later this week.

The president, who has been accused by Republicans of taking performance enhancing drugs for the State of the Union, is expected to debate former President Donald Trump on Thursday. 

Jackson said the "clinically validated drug test" should be administered before and after the debate, and specifically look for performance enhancing drugs on top of other things. Jackson served as the physician to the president for former Presidents Barack Obama and Trump from 2013 to 2018. 

"[D]ebates have given the American public the opportunity to gain critical insight into specific policy positions held by individual candidates, to demonstrate each candidate's leadership qualities and style, and to observe the candidates' ability to perform in an unscripted and high-pressure environment," Jackson said in a three-page letter to Biden and his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Fox News reported.

"American citizens must have absolute confidence in their President's ability to perform his or her duties as Head of State and Commander in Chief, and the debate performance absolutely should be indicative of an individual's ability to perform these critical duties free of any performance enhancing drugs or mood-altering medications," the letter continued.

Jackson noted that a recent Wall Street Journal report found that more than 40 people have expressed concerns over the president's mental acuity, and a report from Special Counsel Robert Hur said a jury would perceive Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

"Unfortunately, President Biden, your refusal to submit to a cognitive exam, and Dr. O'Connor, your unwillingness to address the American people regarding the President's true mental and physical fitness for duty, has created a condition of great concern for our country as Americans watch the continued decline in our president's cognitive performance," Jackson said in the letter.

A spokesperson for Jackson said the lawmaker was not requesting the same for Trump because the former president "has been the same his entire life." But Trump has previously stated he would take a drug test before the debate if Biden did.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.