Former President Joe Biden’s historic debate against Donald Trump became such a disaster because then-President Biden was using drugs, according to former first son Hunter Biden.
Hunter’s bombshell revelation Monday immediately raised concerns about the former president’s undisclosed medical treatments.
In a three-hour interview with Andrew Callaghan, released on the anniversary of Biden ending his re-election campaign, Hunter defended his father while revealing the stunning new details about the disastrous June 27, 2024 debate.
“I know exactly what happened in that debate. He flew around the world basically, and the mileage that he could have flown around the world three times,” Hunter Biden said. “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.”
Biden’s official medical records contain no mention of an Ambien prescription. Dr. Kevin O’Connor’s February 28, 2024 physical examination listed six medications Biden was taking but did not include the sleep drug, known to some as the “devil’s aspirin.”
Ambien carries special warnings for elderly patients according to the National Library of Medicine, including increased risks of delirium in patients over 70. The medication is designed to treat insomnia but can impair cognitive function and reaction times, especially among seniors whose bodies process the drug more slowly.
The debate became a turning point in the 2024 election when Biden was visibly confused and disoriented throughout the 90-minute event. In one memorable moment, Biden declared: “We finally beat Medicare,” leaving even Trump bewildered on stage.
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, and I don’t think he knows what he said either.” Trump famously responded, adding later: “Well, he’s right. He did beat Medicaid. Beat it to death.”
Biden had arrived late to the debate after spending more than four hours out of sight at a nearby hotel. The former president’s horrible performance caused immediate calls from Democratic leaders for him to withdraw from the race.
In fact, Biden’s poor mental condition leading up to the debate shocked some of his own staff. Biden was “rusty and exhausted when he arrived, essentially sleeping that whole first day. And even after that, taking lots of naps.”
Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain was reportedly stunned by Biden’s condition during the preparation sessions at Camp David, where aides had “blocked out substantial time to prep over several days.”
While it was long suspected by critics that Biden was being given drugs for his cognitive decline, the confirmation that the 46th president was being given undisclosed medication stunned Democratic allies in the mainstream media.
“Well, the fact that we didn’t know it beforehand, even though the doctor had been public about trying to say what Joe Biden was on, what he was taking, the fact that we did not know that the President of the United States was on Ambien, I would also imagine it is very difficult to do the proverbial ‘3 a.m. phone call’ crisis when you are on Ambien in the middle of the night,” Axios reporter Alex Thompson told CNN. “I think it’s really striking. We haven’t heard from the doctor, but the fact that the president’s own son said the president was on Ambien is a telling new detail about the president’s abilities at the time.”
Dr. O’Connor, Biden’s physician, recently pleaded the Fifth when facing questions by Congress about what he knew about the former president’s cognitive decline during his term.
Biden’s efforts to recover included an ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos and a July 12 press conference where he mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “Vladimir,” apparently confusing him with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The situation worsened when Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on July 17, Hunter said.
“He woke up in the morning and he had a severe case of COVID, and the pictures of him getting on and off the plane were just devastating, and then the vultures descended,” the former first son said.
Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race on July 21, 2024, quickly endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. Harris had received zero votes in the Democratic Party primary and later lost in a landslide to Trump.
Before the debate, Trump had demanded Biden submit to drug testing.
“Drug test for ‘Crooked’ Joe Biden? I would also immediately agree to one!” Trump posted on Truth Social. Biden’s campaign rejected the suggestion at the time, calling Trump’s request “desperate.”
Biden announced in May that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, a condition critics said would have been detected before reaching an advanced stage.