Podcast host Jack Hopkins has a tweet with 1M views speculating Biden might've been surreptitiously drugged Thursday

[highplainsdem]

I'm not familiar with his tweets or show, but other DUers have posted his tweets, and his podcast guests have included Frank Figliuzzi, Stephanie Wolkoff and Lev Parnas, among others, in recent months.

I posted Friday that I thought cold medication could have been responsible for Biden's shockingly bad debate performance, and yesterday Newsweek had an opinion piece from doctors saying the same thing: https://www.newsweek.com/did-cold-medications-affect-bidens-debate-performance-1919099 .

Hopkins considered that possibility but doesn't think it's likely. His tweet, with 1 million views, 15K likes, nearly 5K replies and nearly 5K reposts:

Link to tweet

Jack Hopkins
@thejackhopkins

Since I haven’t seen many others saying this, I’m going to. Given the pep, energy, clarity and calm we saw in President Biden, late Friday morning, I would hope that someone (like maybe Dr. Jill Biden) start demanding to know who was in the chain of custody between anything he ate and drank in the hours leading up to the debate.

I’ve said from the day he took office, my faith in the Secret Service as a whole had plummeted, and that I had concern for his well being. Something just isn’t adding up.

I’m not claiming something like that did happen. I am sure as hell saying, though, that I would want to be pursuing this avenue if I were close to President Biden.

Cold medicine? No. What White House Physician allows a man who is about to go on stage for a 90 minute debate to take anything with sedation/confusion as a potential side effect? No way.

Team Biden needs answers.

Was it a simple viral/ bacterial infection? I don’t know. I don’t know anyone who does know.

We just know that he looked VERY pale and was also showing signs of confusion. Both of which would be consistent with a drop in blood pressure. A drop in blood pressure could result from a bacterial/viral infection. It could also result from any number of medications.

Here’s a question: with the number of Trump holdover’s and Trump loyalists embedded within about every facet of Washington, D.C: Why would we NOT be asking these questions? Why should team Biden NOT be asking these questions? I hope someone is.

I’ve been concerned about the people around President Biden from day one. I’m even more concerned …for President Biden.

Lots of people replying agree with him.

[bigtree]

1. the concern

...burns.

[highplainsdem]

4. Read the Newsweek piece, what those doctors said. They believe it could likely have been some

cold medicine, as I suggested two days ago. But if he didn't take such medication, then the possibility he was given some drug without his knowledge should be considered.

From Newsweek:

https://www.newsweek.com/did-cold-medications-affect-bidens-debate-performance-1919099

Biden's symptoms are consistent with someone suffering from temporary drug-induced cognitive impairment. We now know he had a bad cold during the debate. Most people believe common over-the-counter cold medications such as Dayquil, Tylenol, or Advil to be harmless. While generally well tolerated, these medications have well-documented side effects and can cause reduced alertness, diminished attention, poor memory, and reduced reaction time, especially in older individuals. These impairments are transitory but can appear consequential and alarming. Every experienced clinician has seen this effect thousands of times. If anti-cold medications were combined with anti-anxiety drugs or alcohol, the risks would increase even more.

Upon hearing of our perspective here, Yale professor of psychiatry Marshal Mandelkern concurred: "As a clinician, when someone presents with 'altered mental status' I would always think of the possibility of drug ingestion as a cause. This is not only common, it is usually the most benign explanation for a change in mental state."

One of the authors of that piece is also a doctor, a cardiologist who's a professor at Yale.

[bigtree]

10. these Yale professors fine with diagnosing the President from that distance?

...I think it's quackery.

[highplainsdem]

11. The evident symptoms match what they're talking about. And some DUers have had problems with cold

medications.

We have never seen Biden in as bad shape as he was during the debate, but he improved later in the evening and was fine the next day. He told his wife he didn't feel right during the debate.

What's YOUR theory?

[bigtree]

14. he had a little cold

...men always exaggerate colds.

A little sniffle and you'd think we're dying.

Media and everyone else exaggerated it, too.

Probably the wrong person to seek agreement on Biden being incapacitated or something. I read the transcript, and he excelled in that debate over the inveterate liar in the truthfulness of his responses, even if he appeared under the weather.

I fucking hate the media class, and the way so many people followed them down. Wrong person with which to seek agreement on this.

I'll never give credit to Trump for anything. I don't have to. The only consequence is my own conscience.

[LiberalFighter]

15. I'm 70 and have had very few colds in my life.

Very few headaches.

OTC pain or sleep medications don't seem to work much for me. I thought maybe because of my weight it was a factor but dropping from 239 to 175 hasn't made a difference.

[Silent Type]

2. Much better excuse than a "cold." But I'm glad Biden's team isn't using that to see if it stick.

I remember George Forum claimed he was drugged when Ali upset him.

[GreenWave]

5. George Foreman walked into Africa where he was despised as the people loved Ali

But since he named all his sons George I guess they could have a George Forum

[former9thward]

3. From all reports he was Ok at his Atlanta appearance less than an hour after the debate.

Did this magic potent mysteriously wear off at the end of the debate? More CTs

[highplainsdem]

6. There are drugs that wear off quickly. That's mentioned in the Newsweek piece I linked to.

[bigtree]

9. he was still coughing a little at the Waffle House when he spoke.

...so, really ridiculous stuff.

[ColinC]

13. Even the Twitter post admits a viral infection would cause that behavior

Which he says he had. Which every indication suggests happened. Which nobody denies.

He had a cold. It hurt him in the debate. He wasn’t feeling well because of it. Time for us to move on…

[Silent Type]

20. Was so sick with a cold/flu that I took like 10 coricidin back in 60s. It hit me, I could not walk, talk, etc. I was 19

and I wasn't the President of the USA, and I never looked like that before or since.

Maybe it was his debate team, maybe he had a cold, and maybe it will happen again, say at the September debate or just before Nov.

All I want is for the family and leaders to consider the options, problems with options, odds, etc. But they need to keep in mind the current situation has problems too, especially if it happens again.

[captain queeg]

7. It's certainly possible but wouldn't be the first thing that came to mind.

As far as someone slipping him something I suppose that wouldn’t have been hard but hopefully would be way harder in the future. If they’d both taken drug tests we’d know. And how much and what kind of stimulants the fat piece of shit might have taken. Nothing to be done now but further awareness next debate might be in order.

[willamette]

8. I see a correlation

between this hypothesis, and the Convicted Felon repeatedly bleating that Biden should have to take a drug test before the debate. This also implies, to me, that C.F. was aware of a drug that would help in his own performance. Which, I gotta say, was better than what he'd been showing up to his rallies with.

[wnylib]

34. That correlation has crossed my mind, too.

The suggestion that he was secretly drugged does sound like a conspiracy theory, so I don't want to endorse it. It reminds me of Medieval kings who had food testers to avoid being poisoned by enemies. Without evidence to prove it, we would sound like the orange maggot himself.

But the suggestion does make me wonder if it would have been possible. Trump had covid at one of his debates in 2020 and he and his entourage tried to infect Biden by arriving late, refusing to be tested and refusing to wear masks. So, yes, the chief maggot is capable of doing such a thing.

Trump lied to create the impression that Biden was on performance enhancing drugs at the SOTU. He was obsessed with discussing drugs and Biden. He pushed very hard the image of Biden as old and feebleminded. Consequently, all of us on DU and everyone in the media were saying that Biden had to prove him wrong by having a good performance at the debate. But then he didn't and some people thought that Trump could have been right. But most of us were shocked because we know that Biden's accomplishments prove his abilities.

So, yes, it seems possible, given how Trump often talks about things that sound ridiculous at the time and later turn out to have been hints at what he was up to. But he'd have to have had someone close enough to Biden's food or drinks to spike them. Security around the president is tight. So, how could it be probable or even possible?

Regarding OTC cold medicines, yes, some are capable of producing lightheadedness, absentmindedness. I've had multiple allergies most of my life. I also have been very prone to colds and viral infections most of my life. I've tried different kinds of medicines so I know the side effects they can produce. Medicines do wear off after a while. Whether a medicine could affect the debate performance and not be so active after 90+ minutes depends on when it was taken.

But, I avoided those medicines if I had an important test coming up in school because of the side effects - except when my cold or allergy symptoms were so bad that they were worse than the med side effects would have been. If Biden had a cold that caused coughing spells he might have calculated that medicine side effects were better than bursts of coughing spells during the debate.

Without proof, we don't know if any drugs played a part. All we do know is that the debate Bidrn was not the typical Biden who is a proven good president that I'm proud to support.

[usonian]

12. Doped ice cream? Poppyseed muffins/bagels, LOTS of poppyseeds?

I disavow superstition and entirely, except when it works.
The SF Giants have three world series trophies that way.
You have no idea how many orange and black items I bought at thrift stores.

And as for conspiracy theories, baloney.
Except when they are true, sometimes found decades later, due to cover ups.
We're still waiting for some to be uncovered.

I put my faith in extraterrestrial beings to get us out of this mess.



Life is weird.
Enjoy it.
Fight for justice.

And why is Jack Hopkins writing this instead of Johns Hopkins?

[highplainsdem]

17. Usonian, if you want to know doctors think a drug could have caused that change in Biden, read

the Newsweek article I linked to.

If he hadn't taken any cold medicine that could have affected him enough to cause that poor debate performance, it isn't unreasonable to wonder if he was surreptitiously drugged.

[usonian]

21. Will do.

Just got off a zoom meeting, and I'm searching for cookware to get a meal put together.

I decided to reorganize and de-duplicate cookware and everything else so I can move nearer the coast.

Predicted high next week is 107 here, and 117 in Fresno.

That's Death Valley kind of weather.

Stay cool. I'll follow up after dinner.

I can't say if some brief event happened, natural or otherwise.

But as Ross Perot said "I'm all ears."

[highplainsdem]

28. Oh, God. 117? Stay safe...

[Uncle Joe]

16. I thought that was a strong possibility as well

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219078256

Thanks for the thread highplainsdem

[highplainsdem]

19. You're welcome! I agree completely with what you said there. Trump is a thug. He's also someone who'd be

very proud of himself if he did manage to get someone to drug Biden, and I thought Trump seemed unusually pleased with himself during the debate.

[Uncle Joe]

23. and the instant coordination from the mouthpieces of FOX lite

John King was first.

Why billionaire John Malone's shadow looms over CNN

https://www.democraticunderground.com/11635285

I remember too well the run up to the war with Iraq and countless bullshit one sided propaganda stories promoted by the corporate media to ever take what they say without a huge grain of salt.

If they don't lie, they magnify while turning a blind eye to the person most responsible for trying to overthrow the United States government.

I can't recall CNN or the New York Times asking, repeating or promoting for the greatest threat to our democracy and an open fascist wannabe dictator to drop out of the race!?

WHY THEY HAVEN'T THEY!?

They don't inform, they just manipulate for their oligarch owners' benefit while the American People and the public good get screwed.

[MOMFUDSKI]

18. Doc Ronny seems to be a wiz with drugs.

Biden called off certain SS guys on day one. An investigation may be in order.

[Azathoth]

22. The left going full qanon. Great nt

[obnoxiousdrunk]

39. More like D-anon...

[DoBW]

24. I can see it ...

I mean ...how would it be done? well first of all -- leverage -- get some over someone who would be near Biden that night; then work out a delivery system (topical, aerosol, injestive, whatever) I mean one thing that struck me that night was it looked like Trump expected it; he was fcking smug. If Biden is having a family meet Monday or whatever ... it might be a "they're going to try to kill me " or a "danger, danger" meeting .... or maybe i've seen too many movies, but billions of dollars are at stake. as well as the greatest, best armed fighting force on the planet, not to mention Trump's own freedom. It's fcking biblical, man. Cloak it in politics if you want, but we're talking empires, or the seeking thereof. But gird the loins and press on. always forward by God

[lostnfound]

25. I wondered the same. Or, a mini-stroke

God knows he had been under an insane amount of pressure.

[wildflowergardener]

26. Drugs

I don’t think he was drugged by someone else, but some drug combos do effect me strangely. Sudafed and mucinex together for example, and Benadryl affects me much longer than the label says.

[Metaphorical]

27. When I was suffering a particularly bad case of COPD

I was pretty heavily on cold medicines - Dayquil, Nyquil, Mucinex, etc. - because the medication I took for my heart condition (Lisinipril) also tended to induce heavy coughing. I was "functional" during the day, when I took it, but was sufficiently out of it that I finally ended up having to quit my job as a programmer because I couldn't think.

I did wonder about the possibility - that was in fact the first thing I thought when I saw him during the debate.

Do I think someone else drugged him? It's possible, but I consider it unlikely.

I do think that CNN did him no favors. A skilled camera person would have run a check for gamma levels to correct for the intense lights of the studio -- too high and someone can looked washed out, and with Biden's already pale complexion and white hair, that should have been done. Similarly, the levels on his mic was set too low, making him sound distorted, muffled, and hard to hear. Finally, if you had a multi-camera setup (which they obvious did) there is usually a telltale light indicating which camera is live at the moment. The fact that he always seemed to be looking at the wrong camera when answering the moderator made me wonder if their camera team was deliberately switching cameras.

I don't think Biden had a great night, and that was on him, but there were a lot of things that didn't add up to someone who's done broadcast work before.

[highplainsdem]

29. So sorry you've had COPD.

And I agree that the studio was not set up properly for the debate.

[P2P]

30. Old Bar Scam Revisited

Was president biden slipped a brain-fog drug by Trump's allies just before the debate started? Could have happened! Putin and Un are known to do this sort of thing. In the old days it was called slipping someone a "mickey" ... to lower their guard, knock them out, take advantage of them, roll em, kidnap them, abduct, impress, or even murder them. I've witnessed this type of pathological behavior in sailor bars and several tourist traps I've been in. In every case the victim is seen as a drunk or otherwise untrustworthy person who people naturally shy away from and distrust! The victim may even be arrested and publicly accused in the media, irreparably damaging their reputation.

The NAZI playbook is big on unscrupulous daring and the art of deception! Trump and his allies' main goal, style, and strategy has been to paint Biden as "Sleepy Joe", feeble and unqualified to be elected President again. They knew all the parameters surrounding the debate.  It's very curious that all FOX News personalities put out a massive pre-debate blitz of rumors that Biden would be on mind-stimulant drugs during the debate. Why? That would ensure that Biden would not take such drugs ... drugs which could have rendered a brain-fog drug ineffective.

[MOMFUDSKI]

31. The one person that knows Joe best is his

Wife. She could certainly tell whomever what her opinion is. ALWAYS talk to the wife. I am sure that has been done.

[MistakenLamb]

32. No

It was bad prep and a cold. Otherwise please explain Biden's pep immediately following the debate. Dapping at Waffle House with voters the speech. This conspiratorial stuff of being drugged is outlandish

[brooklynite]

33. Well if a PODCASTER suggests it happened, no additional evidence is needed.

So, the White House physician would NEVER allow cold medicine to be taken, but the Secret Service WOULD allow a poisoning of,.....something?

[shrike3]

36. It is farfetched n/t

[shrike3]

35. Maybe that's what Woodward was angling for the other day?

"Something happened." Heck if I know.

[WarGamer]

37. About as likely as saying Space Aliens used mind control for those 90 minutes... silliness.

[moondust]

38. Much depends on

who's involved.

The idea could be easily dismissed as poppycock if all parties involved were honorable. Unfortunately, one of them is a wannabe despot who is pals with other despots who would like to see him back in the WH where he can sanction their war crimes and oppression. And his own "MAGA army" may include some members of the SS or employees of CNN who may have had access to private areas last week and were willing to "help the cause."