A year ago Friday, President Joe Biden took the debate stage against then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and drove one of the final nails in his reelection campaign’s coffin as traditional allies turned their backs on the 46th president and subsequently rallied to replace him as the frontrunner against Trump.
Biden entered the reelection 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, citing he was ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’
The then-president spent days preparing for the debate from Camp David in Maryland, as videos of his recent public gaffes and missteps haunted 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.
Biden 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 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 read, accompanied by a photo of Biden drinking a can of water that read ‘Get real, Jack. It’s just water.’
Just minutes later, Biden would deliver a failing debate performance that unleashed panic among the Democratic Party, as some rushed to defend Biden, and others broke with the man who had served in public office for more than 50 years to demand fresh leadership at the 11th hour of the campaign cycle.
‘I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, I don’t think he knows what he said either,’ Trump shot at Biden at one point during the debate.
The viral moment followed Biden attempting to tout Congress’ bipartisan border package that lawmakers had bucked earlier in 2023.
