Hunter Biden claims that former President Joe Biden took Ambien before his disastrous 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump, suggesting the sedative contributed to his father's "deer in the headlights" appearance.
The former President's performance at the debate was so alarming that it resulted in the Democrat party and their media minions finally abandoning the charade that Biden was competent enough to run the country.
Hunter, in an interview with Andrew Callaghan of Channel 5, offered exhaustion as an excuse for the performance.
"I'll tell you what, I know exactly what happened in that debate," he said. "He flew around the world basically, and the mileage that he could have flown around the world three times. He's 81 years old."
"He's tired as s***. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep," Hunter claimed. "He gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights."
(WARNING: Language)
Hunter Biden appears to suggest President Joe Biden had been given Ambien before the debate last year and ended up looking like a "deer in the headlights."
— Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) July 21, 2025
There are no public records that indicate Biden was prescribed Ambien. pic.twitter.com/Xp1EL076gw
READ MORE: Hunter Biden's Absurd Explanation of Why Trump Won Shows How Delusional Ole Joe's Kid Really Is
Ambien (Zolpidem) is described by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) as a "non-benzodiazepine hypnotic agent" used to treat insomnia. There are no public records from Joe Biden's doctors indicating he was ever prescribed Ambien. If it was, as Hunter claims, administered to him, one would have to question where it came from.
The NLM also warns that the drug reportedly given to the former President prior to a legacy-defining debate has special warnings for elderly patients, including an increased risk of "delirium."
The debate, roughly one year ago, featured Biden going on a meandering monologue about God knows what and ending his thoughts with, “We finally beat Medicare.”
Trump would later quip, “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.”
Biden: "Making sure we make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with covid, excuse me, with umm dealing with everything we had to deal with. Look, we finally beat medicare."
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 28, 2024
Trump: "Well he's right. He did beat medicaid. Beat it to death." pic.twitter.com/FL152ERLiR
Biden's performance led NBC News to admit that he was "at times … meandering, incoherent and difficult to hear.” Reality, of course, was that he was all of those things throughout most of his presidency.
And on that note, Scott Jennings, a frequent contributor to CNN and host of "The Scott Jennings Show" on Salem Radio, wondered how often the former President was taking Ambien to get some extra nap time.
"Not an insignificant question: how much Ambien was Joe Biden taking every day as president?" he asked in a post on X.
Not an insignificant question: how much Ambien was Joe Biden taking everyday as president? https://t.co/jJkNfVvweM
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) July 21, 2025
Getting some rest - especially to the point where it required prescription drugs - should not have been a problem for Biden. According to a book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, Biden's aides “blocked out substantial time to prep over several days” for the debate. And that was after the world travel cited by Hunter.
Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain was shocked by Biden's condition during those prep days, with the book stating the former President was "rusty and exhausted when he arrived, essentially sleeping that whole first day. And even after that, taking lots of naps.”
That's a lot of recovery time spent in his bed. Was it exhaustion? Or was he helped with his frequent naps and sleeping for an entire day by some medicinal aide?
The Sun has a video compilation of times Biden has fallen asleep in front of cameras. How much were they giving this man? Who gave it to him? Was this a means to maintain control of the autopen?
Hunter's comments raise numerous important questions that require further investigation.
President Donald Trump spent the weeks leading up to the debate demanding that Biden submit to a drug test.
"Drug test for 'Crooked' Joe Biden?" he posted on Truth Social days ahead of the debate. "I would also immediately agree to one!"
ABC News described Trump's comments as "baseless claims" while Biden's campaign rejected the pre-debate drug test, calling his opponent's suggestion "desperate."
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