Election 2020: With polls favoring Joe Biden as debate looms, President Donald Trump suggests pair take drug tests

President Donald Trump, heading into a Tuesday night debate against a Democratic challenger who leads in both national and key swing state polls released on Sunday, repeated attacks on Joe Biden’s mental fitness by demanding the former vice president take a drug test and pledging to take one himself either before or after they take the stage in Cleveland, Ohio.

“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. His debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy???”

The president’s comments came the same morning the Trump campaign was hit with four polls showing sizable leads for Biden.

A nationwide general election poll conducted by ABC/Washington Post showed Biden up 10 points, 53% to 43%, and a similar poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed Biden with an 8-point edge over Trump, 49% to 41%.

Even more pressing for the Republican incumbent: Biden maintains 8- and 10-point leads in Michigan and Wisconsin, a pair of states crucial to his 2016 victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to a poll by NBC News/Marist College.

Depicting Biden as mentally unfit for the White House is one of Trump’s core strategies. Biden served two terms with former President Barack Obama after three decades as a U.S. Senator from Delaware. While Trump has held re-election campaign rallies across the country, the president and his allies have hammered Biden for campaigning largely from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic and not answering questions from the media.

Tuesday night’s debate, moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, comes a few days after Trump’s nomination on Saturday of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the latest flashpoint in an election year that’s already seen upheaval due to COVID-19 and nationwide calls for racial justice and police reform.

Trump’s mention of drug tests for the candidates is not the first time potential drug use has arisen around a presidential debate.

Four years ago, The Washington Post and several other outlets tracked Trump sniffing more than 50 times during a debate with Clinton. The performance picked up steam over social media, with comedians, commentators and politicians mocking Trump and questioning whether the Republican nominee used cocaine.

“Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user?” Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor, presidential candidate and Democratic National Committee chair tweeted after the debate. Stephen Colbert suggested on “The Late Show” that Trump “sounded like a coked-up best man in the bathroom at a wedding.”

For his part, Trump pinned the sniffs on a defective microphone.

Several of the polls released on Sunday showed a majority of likely voters want the Supreme Court vacancy filled by the president who wins on Nov. 3.

Trump has said he has an obligation to fill the seat, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has enough votes to move the confirmation process forward. Only two GOP senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said they would not vote on a nominee before Election Day.

Biden says Trump’s push to quickly confirm a nominee jeopardizes the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature bill that expanded health care and guaranteed insurance coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. The Trump administration has sought to dismantle the Affordable Care Act in the federal courts, but the Supreme Court, even with a 5-4 conservative majority, has upheld the law.

The Times/Siena College poll of nearly 1,000 likely voters showed 57% support the Affordable Care Act, and only 38% oppose it.

Trump on Sunday said “Obamacare will be replaced with a MUCH better, and FAR cheaper, alternative if it is terminated in the Supreme Court."

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.