Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana was mocked on social media after saying Biden would use energy drinks during his first debate with former President Donald Trump this election cycle.
Biden and Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will face off in a presidential debate moderated by CNN in Atlanta on Thursday. As Biden prepares for the debate with campaign staff at Camp David, Jason Miller — the Trump campaign’s senior adviser — said the former president “does not need to be programmed by staff or pumped full of chemicals like Joe Biden.”
On Tuesday, Johnson, a staunch Trump ally, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that “nobody expects Joe Biden to be on cocaine during the debate,” but he has hinted several times this week that Biden might resort to energy drinks.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Johnson said, “I expect (Biden) will be taking energy drinks or whatever they give him.”
On Wednesday, Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill: “I’ve done a lot of media work over the last few days, and everyone wants to know which Joe Biden is going to show up. Look, my bottom line is: It doesn’t matter if he drinks a whole liter of energy drinks, he’s not going to be able to match the acumen and preparedness of Donald Trump.”
Users of X, formerly Twitter, are mocking Johnson’s claims. One writes: “Will Republicans ban energy drinks and Starbucks next?”
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“Who cares if Joe Biden drinks a Red Bull before the debate? They’re terrified of him,” wrote one user.
“They are afraid,” added another.
One commentator mocked Johnson’s claims by referring to the comedic film Talladega – The Last Nights: “I will write Biden a check for $1,000 if he comes out at the debate and says, ‘I’m totally high on Mountain Dew!’ $2,000 if he threatens to attack Trump ‘like a spider monkey.'”
Newsweek has emailed the Biden and Trump campaign teams and Johnson’s office for comment.
In March, Biden delivered a State of the Union address that was widely viewed as a success. The speech showed Biden as an energetic president and boosted his re-election campaign. However, some of his critics accused him of taking performance-enhancing drugs to pull off his performance. There is no evidence that Biden has taken drugs to enhance his public appearance or plans to take any before the debate.
A Biden campaign official told CNN last week: “The president has made increasingly forceful statements about Trump in his recent comments and plans to continue to push this theme in the debate.”
Johnson was not the only Republican to claim Biden was taking a stimulus to improve his debate performance. Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday: “Trump’s team should not underestimate the ability of Joe Biden and his team – whether they’re pumping him full of Mountain Dew or whatever.”
In response to Burlison’s claim, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said on Good morning, Joe on Wednesday: “This is desperation.” He added: “This shows how nervous they are. No one who is confident behaves like this.”
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Newsweek’s goal is to challenge conventional wisdom and make connections while searching for common ground.
Newsweek’s goal is to challenge conventional wisdom and make connections while searching for common ground.
