Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) warned not to underestimate President Joe Biden‘s debate abilities, saying, “When he needs to, he can step up.”
Burgum joined CNN on Sunday morning to discuss this week’s debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump. He also noted that, despite criticisms of Biden’s mental acuity, he has been able to outperform expectations at major addresses like the State of the Union address.
“There has been a real effort on the Biden team to try to lower expectations, but I think we have to — look, the guy’s run for office more than a dozen times, he’s run for president four times, he’s been campaigning since President Nixon was in office,” Burgum said. “This guy has got the ability. We’ve seen it. We’ve seen him in debate four years ago, we’ve seen him in the State of the Union this year, that when he needs to, he can step up.”
The North Dakota Republican also told CNN, which is hosting the June 27 debate, that it has a responsibility to ask “tough questions,” noting as an example that Biden should be asked about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
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Burgum, who has reportedly been on Trump’s short list for the vice presidency, has called out Biden in the past for what many critics are saying appears to be mental decline. Highlighting Biden’s ability to surprise people with his major address performances brings into focus the call from some conservatives, including Trump, for Biden to take a drug test to ensure he is not on performance enhancers.
On Sunday, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), a medical doctor who served as physician to the president under Barack Obama and Trump, continued calls for Biden to be tested. Polling shows the vast majority of Americans, 70%, would prefer both Biden and Trump be drug tested before the debate.
