Rumors have been circulating for some time among critics that President Joe Biden, to compensate for his diminishing physical and mental capabilities, takes some sort of performance-enhancing drug or stimulant ahead of major speaking events, like the State of the Union address.

Former President Donald Trump challenged Biden to take a drug test prior to Thursday's presidential debate, but Biden's campaign and surrogates repeatedly dodged and dismissed questions about that request, Fox News reported.

Of course, the refusal of Biden's team to directly address the issue only served to lend credence to the speculation that the elderly incumbent president needs some sort of chemical boost to perform at an adequate level in significant public events.

Trump called for a pre-debate drug test

In the lead-up to Thursday's presidential debate, numerous Republican critics of President Biden, including several lawmakers and former President Trump himself, suggested that Biden should submit to a pre-debate drug test to prove that his performance is not artificially altered.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump wrote, "DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN??? I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!"

Yet, while other Republicans echoed that call for a drug test for both participants ahead of the presidential debate, it did not go over well with Democrats and representatives of the Biden campaign.

Trump's challenge a "silly" tactic he has used before against Biden, Clinton

The Daily Beast reported that Biden campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod, during a Tuesday appearance on CNN, dismissed Trump's call for a drug test as a "silly" tactic and distraction from his own problems that he used previously against Biden in 2020 and failed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

"I mean, I don‘t even really know what to say about that," Elrod said when asked about Trump's post. "I worked on Hillary Clinton‘s campaign. She had also debated him very effectively. He accused her of being on drugs. President Biden defeated Donald Trump twice in previous debates. This is what he does because he doesn‘t have anything else to run on."

"He doesn‘t have a plan. He doesn‘t have a record for fighting for the American people. He doesn‘t know why he’s running, except to seek political retribution on his enemies," she added. "And so he has to resort to these types of tactics which are frankly just silly and turn off a lot of voters, especially voters who want to see their president fight for them."

Also dismissing Trump's challenge was top Biden surrogate and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to The Hill, who was asked on Thursday ahead of the debate about the drug test request and told reporters, "It’s beneath contempt. It’s a disgraceful tactic" and move by Trump that was "just typical of somebody who’s a bit unhinged."

Biden campaign says drug accusations a "desperate, obviously false lie"

Fox News reached out to both the Biden campaign and the White House for comment about Trump's call for a drug test, and while the White House simply refused to respond, the campaign twice dodged the question and provided a dismissive non-answer.

Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told the outlet, "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."

When pressed in a follow-up question for a simple "yes" or "no" answer to the question of whether Biden is taking performance-enhancing drugs or would submit to a pre-debate drug test, Hitt merely referenced her initial response and reiterated, "The accusation from Trump on drugs is a 'desperate, obviously false lie.'"

Fox News also asked the Trump campaign if the former president planned to take any sort of drug or stimulants to boost his debate performance, to which campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt replied, "Absolutely not. 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. President Trump has repeatedly asked Joe Biden to participate in drug testing. What does Team Biden have to hide?"