Trump: ‘We should take a drug test prior to the debate’

Holly Bailey
·National Correspondent
Donald Trump at a campaign rally
Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Portsmouth, N.H. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Donald Trump suggested that Hillary Clinton might have been on drugs during the second presidential debate and proposed that the candidates take a drug test ahead of their next and final face-off set for Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Speaking at the first of two scheduled Saturday rallies in the Northeast, Trump was reading from prepared remarks attacking Clinton for revelations from leaked emails when the Republican presidential nominee, as he is prone to do, went off script.

“We are like athletes, [and] athletes, they make them take a drug test. I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate. Why don’t we do that? We should take a drug test,” Trump said, apparently randomly. His speech was billed as one that would be focused on opioid abuse in New Hampshire.

“I don’t know what’s going on with her, but at the beginning of her last debate, she was all pumped up at the beginning, and at the end, it was like, ‘Huh, take me down.’ She could barely reach her car,” Trump continued. “So I think we should take a drug test. Anyway, I’m willing to do it!”

Trump’s comments came as he has stepped up attacks on Clinton, including questioning her health and readiness for the White House. Last week, his campaign unveiled a campaign ad featuring footage of Clinton stumbling on her way out of a Sept. 11 memorial event. Her campaign later said she was sick with pneumonia.

At the time, Trump initially wished his Democratic opponent well, but days later, he began mocking her “stamina,” questioning if she could stand up at political rallies. Earlier at the event on Saturday, he mentioned her light public schedule in recent days. Clinton’s staff has said she is off the trail doing debate prep ahead of her final face-to-face showdown with Trump.

But the GOP nominee, who has rebuffed his own staff’s efforts to do debate prep, mocked that excuse — suggesting repeatedly that she’s “resting.” Trump sarcastically suggested Clinton is supposed to “know stuff” already.

“What are you going to learn in five days?” Trump questioned.