Latest news with #Ambien

Biden's son says Clooney undermined father in election

7NEWS

5 hours ago

Entertainment
7NEWS

Biden's son says Clooney undermined father in election

Hunter curses out Clooney for pushing dad out of race

Gulf Today

7 hours ago

Entertainment
Gulf Today

Hunter curses out Clooney for pushing dad out of race

John Bowden, The Independent Scandal-plagued former first son Hunter Biden ripped into actor George Clooney in a foul-mouthed tirade aired Monday. The 55-year-old son of former President Joe Biden went on an expletive-filled rant against the Hollywood megastar in an interview with Andrew Callaghan, an independent journalist and former host of the podcast, All Gas No Brakes. He railed against the Goodnight, and Good Luck auteur's demand that Joe Biden drop out of the 2024 presidential race, which the younger Biden and others in the family's inner circle have made clear they believe is to blame for the Democratic Party's loss to Donald Trump. But he also took aim at Clooney's acting chops, suggesting hurt feelings were at play. "What do you have to do with anything? Hunter Biden seethed about the ER star. "Why do I have to listen to you? What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his life to the service of this country and decide that you, George Clooney, are going to take out basically a full page ad in the New York Times to undermine the president at a time in which, by the way, what do people care about the most?" Biden claimed that the division within the Democratic Party led to Republicans having an insurmountable advantage ahead of November. He also claimed that the disastrous performance of his father at his one and only debate with Trump was due to his father taking Ambien in order to sleep on foreign trips. "I know exactly what happened in that debate. He flew around the world, basically mileage that he could have flown around the world three times, he's 81 years old, he's tired as s---, they give him Ambien to be able to sleep, he's gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights," Hunter told Callaghan, adding: "(I)t feeds into every story that anybody wants to tell." Of Clooney's acting, he said of the From Dusk Till Dawn star: "I agree with Quentin Tarantino. George Clooney is not a actor. He is like... I don't know what he is. He's a brand." Biden's rant was nearly duplicated in a second podcast appearance — this time, a conversation with Jaime Harrison, former chair of the Democratic Party. Even here, Biden told the At Our Table host he didn't give a "s***" about Clooney's political opinions. "We lost the last election because we did not remain loyal to the leader of the party," he said during that appearance. "That's my position. We had the advantage of incumbency, we had the advantage of an incredibly successful administration, and the Democratic Party literally melted down." His father's performance at a June presidential debate with Donald Trump alarmed voters on all sides of the political spectrum and drew immediate fears from Democrats that the party was preparing to hand the election over to Republicans. Clooney was a prominent part of that avalanche, penning an op-ed for the New York Times titled, "I Love Joe Biden, But We Need a New Nominee". Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for Barack Obama, said that internal polling conducted by the Biden campaign showed the former president losing by a landslide were he to remain in the race. The elder Biden dropped out of the race a month later, after an agonizing few weeks of calls for him to step down by backbencher Democrats and the less-than-delicate hinting from the likes of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others seemingly urging the same. Kamala Harris, his vice president and running mate, ascended to the top of the ticked after party officials shot down the idea of a last-minute primary election playing out at the Democratic National Convention. Democrats had already blown their own chance to hold a real primary earlier in the year. Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, was drafted as her running mate after a short candidate search.

The Advertiser

9 hours ago

Entertainment
The Advertiser

Biden's son says Clooney undermined father in election

Former US president Joe Biden's son Hunter has criticised actor and Democratic Party donor George Clooney's 2024 decision to call on the elder Biden to abandon his re-election bid. In a three-hour online interview, Hunter Biden used a string of expletives to describe Clooney when discussing the actor with Andrew Gallagher of Channel 5. Clooney supported Democrat Joe Biden's bid for a second term and even headlined a record-setting fundraiser for the then-president. But the actor changed his stance after Biden turned in a lacklustre debate performance against Republican Donald Trump in June 2024 and added his voice to mounting calls for the then-81-year-old president to leave the race. Clooney made his feelings known in an opinion piece in The New York Times. Biden ended up leaving the race a few weeks later and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris, who later lost to Trump. In the wide-ranging interview, Hunter Biden questioned why anyone should listen to Clooney and said the Ocean's Eleve actor had no right to "undermine" his father. "What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his f***ing life to the services of this country and decide that you, George Clooney, are going to take out basically a full page ad in the f***ing New York Times to undermine the president," Hunter Biden said before he trailed off to talk about how Republicans are more unified than Democrats. Joe Biden served 36 years in the US Senate and eight years as Barack Obama's vice president before he was elected president in 2020. Referring to Joe Biden's debate performance, Hunter Biden said his father may have been recovering from Ambien, a medication that he had been given to help him sleep following trips in the weeks before the debate to Europe, as well as the Los Angeles fundraiser at which Clooney said his interactions with the elder Biden made him feel the president was not mentally capable. "They give him Ambien to be able to sleep, and he gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights," Hunter Biden said. He also ranted against longtime Democratic advisers he accused of making money off the party and trading off previous electoral successes but not helping candidates' current efforts. Anita Dunn, a longtime Biden senior adviser, has made "$US40 to $US50 million ($A61 million to $A77 million)" off of work for the Democratic Party, Hunter Biden said. James Carville, adviser to former president Bill Clinton, "hasn't run a race in 40 f***king years". Former Obama strategist David Axelrod, Hunter Biden said, "had one success in his political life, and that was Barack Obama - and that was because of Barack Obama". Other former Obama aides who now host the Pod Save America podcast are "four white millionaires that are dining out on their association with Barack Obama from 16 years ago," he said. Former US president Joe Biden's son Hunter has criticised actor and Democratic Party donor George Clooney's 2024 decision to call on the elder Biden to abandon his re-election bid. In a three-hour online interview, Hunter Biden used a string of expletives to describe Clooney when discussing the actor with Andrew Gallagher of Channel 5. Clooney supported Democrat Joe Biden's bid for a second term and even headlined a record-setting fundraiser for the then-president. But the actor changed his stance after Biden turned in a lacklustre debate performance against Republican Donald Trump in June 2024 and added his voice to mounting calls for the then-81-year-old president to leave the race. Clooney made his feelings known in an opinion piece in The New York Times. Biden ended up leaving the race a few weeks later and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris, who later lost to Trump. In the wide-ranging interview, Hunter Biden questioned why anyone should listen to Clooney and said the Ocean's Eleve actor had no right to "undermine" his father. "What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his f***ing life to the services of this country and decide that you, George Clooney, are going to take out basically a full page ad in the f***ing New York Times to undermine the president," Hunter Biden said before he trailed off to talk about how Republicans are more unified than Democrats. Joe Biden served 36 years in the US Senate and eight years as Barack Obama's vice president before he was elected president in 2020. Referring to Joe Biden's debate performance, Hunter Biden said his father may have been recovering from Ambien, a medication that he had been given to help him sleep following trips in the weeks before the debate to Europe, as well as the Los Angeles fundraiser at which Clooney said his interactions with the elder Biden made him feel the president was not mentally capable. "They give him Ambien to be able to sleep, and he gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights," Hunter Biden said. He also ranted against longtime Democratic advisers he accused of making money off the party and trading off previous electoral successes but not helping candidates' current efforts. Anita Dunn, a longtime Biden senior adviser, has made "$US40 to $US50 million ($A61 million to $A77 million)" off of work for the Democratic Party, Hunter Biden said. James Carville, adviser to former president Bill Clinton, "hasn't run a race in 40 f***king years". Former Obama strategist David Axelrod, Hunter Biden said, "had one success in his political life, and that was Barack Obama - and that was because of Barack Obama". Other former Obama aides who now host the Pod Save America podcast are "four white millionaires that are dining out on their association with Barack Obama from 16 years ago," he said. Former US president Joe Biden's son Hunter has criticised actor and Democratic Party donor George Clooney's 2024 decision to call on the elder Biden to abandon his re-election bid. In a three-hour online interview, Hunter Biden used a string of expletives to describe Clooney when discussing the actor with Andrew Gallagher of Channel 5. Clooney supported Democrat Joe Biden's bid for a second term and even headlined a record-setting fundraiser for the then-president. But the actor changed his stance after Biden turned in a lacklustre debate performance against Republican Donald Trump in June 2024 and added his voice to mounting calls for the then-81-year-old president to leave the race. Clooney made his feelings known in an opinion piece in The New York Times. Biden ended up leaving the race a few weeks later and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris, who later lost to Trump. In the wide-ranging interview, Hunter Biden questioned why anyone should listen to Clooney and said the Ocean's Eleve actor had no right to "undermine" his father. "What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his f***ing life to the services of this country and decide that you, George Clooney, are going to take out basically a full page ad in the f***ing New York Times to undermine the president," Hunter Biden said before he trailed off to talk about how Republicans are more unified than Democrats. Joe Biden served 36 years in the US Senate and eight years as Barack Obama's vice president before he was elected president in 2020. Referring to Joe Biden's debate performance, Hunter Biden said his father may have been recovering from Ambien, a medication that he had been given to help him sleep following trips in the weeks before the debate to Europe, as well as the Los Angeles fundraiser at which Clooney said his interactions with the elder Biden made him feel the president was not mentally capable. "They give him Ambien to be able to sleep, and he gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights," Hunter Biden said. He also ranted against longtime Democratic advisers he accused of making money off the party and trading off previous electoral successes but not helping candidates' current efforts. Anita Dunn, a longtime Biden senior adviser, has made "$US40 to $US50 million ($A61 million to $A77 million)" off of work for the Democratic Party, Hunter Biden said. James Carville, adviser to former president Bill Clinton, "hasn't run a race in 40 f***king years". Former Obama strategist David Axelrod, Hunter Biden said, "had one success in his political life, and that was Barack Obama - and that was because of Barack Obama". Other former Obama aides who now host the Pod Save America podcast are "four white millionaires that are dining out on their association with Barack Obama from 16 years ago," he said. Former US president Joe Biden's son Hunter has criticised actor and Democratic Party donor George Clooney's 2024 decision to call on the elder Biden to abandon his re-election bid. In a three-hour online interview, Hunter Biden used a string of expletives to describe Clooney when discussing the actor with Andrew Gallagher of Channel 5. Clooney supported Democrat Joe Biden's bid for a second term and even headlined a record-setting fundraiser for the then-president. But the actor changed his stance after Biden turned in a lacklustre debate performance against Republican Donald Trump in June 2024 and added his voice to mounting calls for the then-81-year-old president to leave the race. Clooney made his feelings known in an opinion piece in The New York Times. Biden ended up leaving the race a few weeks later and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris, who later lost to Trump. In the wide-ranging interview, Hunter Biden questioned why anyone should listen to Clooney and said the Ocean's Eleve actor had no right to "undermine" his father. "What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his f***ing life to the services of this country and decide that you, George Clooney, are going to take out basically a full page ad in the f***ing New York Times to undermine the president," Hunter Biden said before he trailed off to talk about how Republicans are more unified than Democrats. Joe Biden served 36 years in the US Senate and eight years as Barack Obama's vice president before he was elected president in 2020. Referring to Joe Biden's debate performance, Hunter Biden said his father may have been recovering from Ambien, a medication that he had been given to help him sleep following trips in the weeks before the debate to Europe, as well as the Los Angeles fundraiser at which Clooney said his interactions with the elder Biden made him feel the president was not mentally capable. "They give him Ambien to be able to sleep, and he gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights," Hunter Biden said. He also ranted against longtime Democratic advisers he accused of making money off the party and trading off previous electoral successes but not helping candidates' current efforts. Anita Dunn, a longtime Biden senior adviser, has made "$US40 to $US50 million ($A61 million to $A77 million)" off of work for the Democratic Party, Hunter Biden said. James Carville, adviser to former president Bill Clinton, "hasn't run a race in 40 f***king years". Former Obama strategist David Axelrod, Hunter Biden said, "had one success in his political life, and that was Barack Obama - and that was because of Barack Obama". Other former Obama aides who now host the Pod Save America podcast are "four white millionaires that are dining out on their association with Barack Obama from 16 years ago," he said.

Politico

10 hours ago

Entertainment
Politico

Hunter Biden's alternate history

BLAME GAME — Hunter Biden suddenly has a lot to say. In multiple interviews released this week, he addressed his drug addiction, his infamous laptop, his father dropping out of the race for president and media coverage of his family, with some particularly choice words reserved for CNN anchor Jake Tapper, the co-author of a recent book about Joe Biden, actor George Clooney and The New York Times. It's understandable that the president's son might want to defend the family in the wake of recriminations over Biden's legacy, as a wave of books and negative press accounts have come out about the 46th president's health in his final years in office. But the decision to air his grievances — and crowd out the news cycle at a moment when Donald Trump and his party are desperately trying to divert attention away from the Jeffrey Epstein saga — isn't being welcomed by Democrats. In Hunter's most notable interview, spanning over three hours with online documentarian Andrew Callaghan and his network Channel 5, the younger Biden pontificates at length on his own addiction and recovery, before tearing into the party apparatus that he believes pushed his dad to abandon his 2024 campaign. Hunter's lengthy comments, filmed a month ago, represent an unvarnished look into the collective psyche of the close-knit Biden family since the former president dropped out. What it reveals is a lack of awareness and accountability for Biden's own role in losing the 2024 election, in favor of an alternate history. One profanity-laced tirade stands out. 'Fuck [George Clooney]! Fuck him and everyone around him. I don't have to be fucking nice,' Biden said. 'Number one, I agree with Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney is not a fucking actor, he's a fucking — I don't know what he is, he's a brand … Fuck you, what do you have to do with fucking anything, why do I have to fucking listen to you? What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his fucking life to the service of his country, and decide that you, George Clooney, are going to take out basically a full-page ad in fucking The New York Times to undermine the president? Which, by the way, what do you think people care about the most? Why do you think the Republicans have an advantage? Because they're unified.' Hunter remains convinced that his father should not have dropped out of the race. He admits the debate was a disaster, but chalks it up to the time his dad had spent on a plane prior and an Ambien he was given in order to sleep. He says 'my dad grew old in front of everyone's eyes,' and that Americans need to reconsider 'how we handle people who age in front of our eyes,' while insisting he was politically viable because of the 81 million votes he received in 2020. At the time Biden dropped out, Gallup polling showed his job approval rating at an anemic 36 percent, the lowest of his presidency, and aides working on the campaign were consistently fretting about their chances to the press. One reportedly insisted, 'no one involved in the effort thinks he has a path [to victory].' Hunter, however, contends his dad had 'cleared every hurdle they set up for him.' On the post-debate Democratic collective freakout, Hunter says, 'He goes and does [ABC News' This Week with George] Stephanopoulos. Everyone says, 'that's not enough. We've got to see him give a press conference.' For what? You remember that, it was about a two-hour long press conference, and he gave a tour de force, around the world history lesson about the existence of NATO, Russian aggression and Ukraine.' President Biden became vulnerable again, according to Hunter's telling, after he got COVID, which was when he said the Democratic Party elite vultures descended and insisted they'd destroy the party if he didn't drop out. Notably, Hunter doesn't blame Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he calls very loyal. At another point, he insists she's still the future of the party. In whole, the interview is a view of history that is simply inconsistent with the facts. Biden was in position to suffer a historic loss, according to publicly available polling that kept getting worse. And Hunter Biden's account is full of contradictions — according to him, Americans need to learn to deal with a president who's getting old and who's undone by an Ambien, yet that same president also gave a 'tour de force' press conference and never should have dropped out. Most remarkable is the way in Hunter's mind, his dad is a victim. As he notes multiple times with pride, Biden was a leader in the Democratic Party for over half a century. He was a senator for decades, vice president for eight years and president for four. He had better relationships with congressional leaders than President Obama. But at the same time, somehow he's free of all responsibility for the party's current unpopularity. Instead, it is the fault of Democratic elites, which somehow does not include Joe Biden himself. The majority of the younger Biden's interview with Callaghan is consumed by questions of addiction and a lack of humanity in our politics. When he's speaking on those topics, he can be erudite and remind viewers of our collective fragility. His situation — much of the worst of his life exposed to a media and public hungry to devour it — is an unfortunate and ugly outgrowth of modern American culture (it's also won him a legion of fans). And he's able to directly diagnose a big problem for Democrats, a widespread perception that they are increasingly the party of only the elite. He's engaging insofar as he is willing to be impolite and unhinged in a political milieu dominated by evasion and artifice. He's likely channeling the true feelings of his family. But his beliefs also involve constantly shifting blame — to Rudy Giuliani, Tapper, Clooney, Pod Save America or whoever else is closest at hand. That makes his recent media tour seem at times like a public temper tantrum, a chance to excuse himself and his dad and lash out indiscriminately at everyone else. At the end of the interview, Callaghan, the documentarian, tells Biden about another project he's working on, involving interviewing adults who dress up and act like babies, wearing diapers, playing with childhood toys and sucking on pacifiers or their thumbs. It's a very funny and strange concept to Biden, who laughs heartily for the first time across the three hours. He concedes he knows the feeling. 'Some days I identify as a baby,' he tells Callaghan, laughing. He might have even more in common with this American subculture than he's ready to admit. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at cmchugh@ or on X (formerly know as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh. What'd I Miss? — Epstein crisis forces Republicans to shut down House early: House GOP leaders are canceling Thursday votes and sending members home early for a month-long recess as the Jeffrey Epstein crisis deepens on Capitol Hill. The decision to move up summer recess came after Republicans lost control of the floor over bipartisan pressure to vote on releasing Epstein-related documents. House committees will keep working through the week, but there will be no further floor votes after Wednesday. — Deflecting Epstein questions, Trump urges DOJ to 'go after' Obama: President Donald Trump on Tuesday attempted to shift the public's focus away from the building crisis around the release of sealed documents detailing the Jeffrey Epstein case by urging his Justice Department to go after his predecessors. 'Whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people,' Trump said, accusing former President Barack Obama of 'treason.' As he took questions alongside Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos in the Oval Office, Trump dismissed the furor over the disgraced former financier, driven largely by Republican lawmakers and his own supporters, as 'a witch hunt,' claiming he 'didn't know' about the Justice Department's decision to seek a new interview with Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence for sex trafficking minors and other crimes. — China behind vast global hack involving multiple US agencies: Three China-linked hacking groups are among those responsible for a sweeping cyberattack against users of popular Microsoft server software that has already impacted dozens of organizations across the globe. Federal investigators believe multiple U.S. government agencies are among the early victims of the ongoing cyber exploitation campaign, though the full scope is not yet clear, according to two U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. Microsoft confirmed in a blog post today that three Chinese hacking gangs — known as Violet Typhoon, Linen Typhoon and Storm-2603 — are involved in the hacking effort. At least two U.S. federal agencies are among the roughly 100 suspected victims of the hacks thus far, said one U.S. official directly involved in the incident response and a second who has been briefed on it. — Trump books draw lackluster sales: President Donald Trump promised Americans they would get tired of winning — for now, it appears they are getting tired of reading about him. Trump's first term saw books authored by prominent journalists sell hundreds of thousands of copies each as the public rushed to learn the inside details of Trump's norm-shattering presidency. But similar books aren't exactly flying off the shelves in his second term, and the bar to getting onto the coveted New York Times bestseller list has been lowered as the overall nonfiction book market has dipped. — Judges oust Trump ally Alina Habba as New Jersey's top prosecutor: Federal judges declined to keep President Donald Trump's former personal attorney as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor, exercising an arcane statute to rebuff the Trump administration's wishes. New Jersey district court judges voted to not let interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba stay on the job after her 120-day interim term expires, instead picking prosecutor Desiree Leigh Grace, according to a court order posted to the judiciary's website. Habba, who served as counselor to the president and as Trump's personal attorney, was Trump's pick to be New Jersey's top federal prosecutor — a position she assumed in March on an interim basis. The decision to pass on Habba at the 120-day deadline of her tenure sets up a potential showdown between the judiciary and the White House, since the Trump administration lobbied judges to give Habba the permanent slot. AROUND THE WORLD NO MORE RANSOM PAYMENTS — Hospitals, local councils and operators of critical U.K. infrastructure are among the organizations that will be banned from paying ransoms to hackers under new plans unveiled by the British government. The move — which will cover all public sector bodies as well as the owners and operators of critical national infrastructure — comes after years of escalating cyber attacks on parts of the British state. Many of these attacks on British institutions and infrastructure can be traced back to Russia-aligned hacking groups that are now the subject of sanctions. Estimates from Chainalysis, a blockchain data and analytics company, suggest ransomware payments globally generated $1 billion from victims in 2023 alone. 'UNBEARABLE' IMAGES — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated EU calls for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, as health workers warned Palestinians were facing 'forced starvation.' 'The images from Gaza are unbearable,' von der Leyen said. 'Civilians in Gaza have suffered too much, for too long. It must stop now.' In 24 hours, 15 people — including four children — died of starvation, Gaza's health ministry said Tuesday morning. The latest deaths bring the total figures, according to local hospitals, to 101 people in Gaza, including 80 children, who have died from hunger since the start of the war. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP PLASTIC-FREE DINING — Shia, a Korean fine dining spot in Washington, D.C., is saying no to plastic. As the restaurant industry looks to become more sustainable, the restaurant replaced cling wrap with reusable muslin cloths and ditched squeeze bottles used for plate design for metal barista pitches. Owner Edward Lee is partnering with OpenTable to research and share what they have learned about the costs and benefits of the higher costs of going plastic-free on restaurants and customers. Will it work beyond small, upscale restaurants like Lee's? Ana Campoy reports for Bloomberg. Parting Image Jacqueline Munis contributed to this newsletter. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.

Flashback: Biden challenged to take pre-debate drug test in 2024; his son now makes Ambien claim

Fox News

12 hours ago

Politics
Fox News

Flashback: Biden challenged to take pre-debate drug test in 2024; his son now makes Ambien claim

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Former President Joe Biden's campaign dodged answering whether the president planned to take performance-enhancing drugs ahead of his debate against President Donald Trump just over a year ago, instead arguing that Trump and his campaign were spreading "desperate, obviously false lies" about the 46th president potentially taking drugs. About one year after Biden's ill-fated debate, former first son Hunter Biden claimed in a wild and expansive interview published Monday his dad's poor debate performance was due to taking Ambien, a sedative-hypnotic typically used to treat insomnia. "I know exactly what happened in that debate," Hunter Biden said in the interview. "He flew around the world, basically, the mileage that he could have flown around the world, three times. He's 81 years old. He's tired as s---. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep. "He gets up on the stage, and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights," Hunter added. "And it feeds into every f---ing story that anybody wants to tell." BIDEN AIDES PUSHED FOR EARLY DEBATE TO SHOW OFF BIDEN'S 'STRENGTH,' EXPOSE TRUMP'S 'WEAKNESS,' BOOK SAYS On June 26, 2024, the day before the debate, Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign inquiring if Biden had any plans to use performance-enhancing drugs for the debate, but staffers twice avoided a direct answer to the question. At the time, Trump was leading a rising chorus, which included lawmakers, demanding that Biden take a drug test before the showdown. Those advocating a screening suggested Biden may have been motivated by a desire to quell mounting concerns about his mental acuity. "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," a Biden campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital the evening ahead of that 2024 debate. When asked in a follow-up email for a "yes" or "no" response, the spokesperson said the original statement answered the question. "The accusation from Trump on drugs is a desperate, obviously false lie," the response said. Ambien is a sedative that slows brain activity to help a person fall asleep and would not act as a performance-enhancing supplement for a public debate. FLASHBACK: THE DEBATE NIGHT AGAINST TRUMP THAT THREW BIDEN'S REELECTION CAMPAIGN INTO A FREE FALL ONE YEAR LATER: HOW JOE BIDEN'S DISASTROUS DEBATE PERFORMANCE FORCED HIS MEDIA ALLIES TO TURN ON HIM Joe Biden spent days preparing for the debate at Camp David in Maryland with videos of his public gaffes and missteps haunting the campaign in the days leading up to the debate. Trump, meanwhile, led the charge in demanding Biden take a drug test to prove he was not taking performance-enhancing supplements ahead of the highly anticipated event. "DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN??? I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!" Trump posted to Truth Social in the lead-up to the debate. Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House and Trump campaign asking if Biden or Trump, respectively, planned to take performance-enhancing drugs ahead of the debate. The Biden White House did not respond at the time, while the Trump campaign responded. "Absolutely not," then-campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital at the time. "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," Leavitt said at the time. "President Trump has repeatedly asked Joe Biden to participate in drug testing. What does Team Biden have to hide?" BOOK REVEALS BIDEN ADVISORS DECLINED TO HAVE PRESIDENT TAKE A COGNITIVE TEST IN FEBRUARY 2024: REPORT Hunter Biden's recent explosive interview on "Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan," released on YouTube, fanned the flames of Biden's presidency and exit from the 2024 federal election amid ongoing accusations that Biden's mental acuity had cratered during his Oval Office tenure. Biden entered the re-election cycle already racked by claims and concerns that his mental acuity had slipped, and he was not mentally fit to continue serving as president, which was underscored by special counsel Robert Hur's report in February 2024 that rejected criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials, saying he was "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Biden also brushed off accusations he was using any performance-enhancing supplements, including mocking Trump's challenge that he take a drug test in an X post just before the debate showing him drinking a can of water. "I don't know what they've got in these performance enhancers, but I'm feeling pretty jacked up. Try it yourselves, folks. See you in a bit," the X post said, accompanied by a photo of Biden drinking a can of water that said "Get real, Jack. It's just water." The debate was an abject failure for Biden as he stumbled over his responses and appeared to lose his train of thought and slur words at times, opening the floodgates of criticism from longtime Democratic allies who called on Biden to drop out of the race and pass the torch to a younger generation to take on Trump. A handful of former President Barack Obama's allies and former advisors publicly helped lead the charge in calling on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race earlier in the summer, including David Axelrod , who said Biden was "not winning this race;" George Clooney, who called on the president to quit in a bombshell op-ed; and Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama. BIDEN CAMP DODGES ANSWERING IF PRESIDENT PLANS TO USE PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS BEFORE DEBATE Hunter Biden unleashed on the Democrats who turned their backs on his dad as he attempted to recover from the debate performance in his expletive-riddled interview Monday. "F‑‑- you. What do you have to do with f‑‑‑ing anything? Why do I have to f‑‑‑ing listen to you? What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his f‑‑‑ing life to the service of this country," Hunter Biden said of Clooney. "They're all going to insert their judgment over a man who has figured out, unlike anybody else, how to get elected to the United States Senate over seven times … and how to garner more votes than any president that has ever won, and they're going to replace their judgment for his?" he added, assailing other Biden allies who encouraged Joe Biden to drop out of the race. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital reached out to the former president's office regarding Hunter Biden's remarks and the campaign's previous statements when asked about whether Biden would use performance-enhancing drugs ahead of the 2024 debate, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Latest news with #Ambien

Biden's son says Clooney undermined father in election

Hunter curses out Clooney for pushing dad out of race

Biden's son says Clooney undermined father in election

Hunter Biden's alternate history

Flashback: Biden challenged to take pre-debate drug test in 2024; his son now makes Ambien claim

Get Started Now: Download the App