Debate day controversies and rumors have been swirling in the hours before the big showdown in Atlanta, Thursday evening.
Tongues are wagging about the Biden campaign’s refusal to answer whether the 81-year old plans to take any drugs to enhance his performance, as well as CNN’s alleged refusal to allow reporters into the venue.
People are also questioning the need for two breaks during the debate, and the muted mics when the candidates are not talking.
Concerns about Biden’s mental fitness spiked in February when Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. Hur concluded Biden willfully retained classified materials after the end of his vice presidency, but Biden was too mentally incapacitated to prosecute.
In recent weeks, Joe Biden’s mental acuity has appeared to be in steeper decline, with so many videos circulating that show him acting confused and struggling to speak, the White House has resorted to calling the clips “deep fakes,” “cheap fakes” and “manipulated.”
Trump has challenged Biden to take a drug test before the debate, as has former White House physician Ronny Jackson, who is now a Republican congressman representing Texas.
In recent days, Trump and his allies have also taken to social media to accuse Biden of taking performance-enhancing drugs.
“Biden’s handlers have spent the past week concocting the perfect drug cocktail for this moment,” the RNC wrote on X.
“Remember: if you see Biden bizarrely shouting, not blinking, and slurring while fast-talking tonight it’s because he’s on drugs,” said former Trump speechwriter and America First Legal founder Stephen Miller.
Given the growing concerns about presidential mental fitness, Fox News reached out to both the Biden and Trump campaigns, as well as the White House to ask if the “respective candidates have any plans to use performance-enhancing drugs for the debate.”
Rather than answer the question, the Biden campaign attacked Trump for spreading “desperate, obviously false lies.”
“Donald Trump is so scared of being held accountable for his toxic agenda of attacking reproductive freedom and cutting Social Security that he and his allies are resorting to desperate, obviously false lies,” Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told Fox News on Wednesday evening.
In a follow-up email, Fox requested a simple “yes” or “no” response to the question, and Hitt again refused, saying her original statement answered the question.
“The accusation from Trump on drugs is a ‘desperate, obviously false lie,'” Hitt added.
The White House did not respond to Fox’s request for comment.
The Trump campaign, in contrast, gave a direct response when asked if the former president planned to take any performance-enhancing drugs for the debate.
“Absolutely not,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karolina Leavitt told Fox News Digital.
She added: “President Trump has naturally elite stamina and doesn’t need performance-enhancing drugs, unlike Joe Biden, who many are saying will be drugged up for the debate like he was at the State of the Union. President Trump has repeatedly asked Joe Biden to participate in drug testing. What does Team Biden have to hide?”
Meanwhile, the White House Press Corps have reportedly petitioned CNN to open up the debate studio to reporters so they can provide on-scene coverage to television viewers.
As it stands, a space for reporters has been set up in a building across the street where they can watch from a live feed, RealClearInvestigations journalist Paul Sperry reported on X.
A short delay is often used during live broadcasts to prevent profanity, bloopers, nudity, or other undesirable material from making it to air.
There have been fears shared online that CNN will implement a longer broadcast delay than the standard seven second delay, allowing them to edit out their preferred candidate’s mental glitches.
According to Sperry, some journalists are even concerned they could miss a “medical emergency” involving one of the presidential candidates.
CNN responded to one X account that claimed the network would implement a one to two minute delay, rather than the standard seven-second delay.
“This is false,” CNN Communications wrote. “The debate will begin live at 9pm ET.”
Sperry also questioned the Biden Campaign’s demand that there be no live, in-person audience for the debate.
“Trump will be alone in studio with the only people to feed off being CNN moderators, who of course will be cold and hostile toward him,” Sperry wrote on X. “This creates a very sterile, academic environment for the first presidential debate, which favors a lawyer/legislator like Biden, who is more experienced at this kind of dispassionate debating. Clearly, CNN designed it this way to give the edge to the Democrat candidate.”