White House officials Defended President Biden’s health and denied that he had ever been treated for Parkinson’s disease, despite a meeting between an expert on the disease and the president’s physician earlier this year.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answered a number of questions about the president’s health, particularly regarding recent reports that a top neurologist from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center met with Biden’s physician at the White House in January.
News of the January 17 meeting comes at a time when the 81-year-old president faces increasing scrutiny over his age and mental acuity after a poor performance at the June 27 debate in Atlanta.
When asked about the doctor’s meeting, Jean-Pierre said the White House has stated this publicly over the past three years. Biden has A comprehensive examination, which also included a meeting with a neurologist.
Parkinson’s disease specialist meets with President Biden’s physician at the White House
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denies that President Biden is being treated for Parkinson’s disease. (Getty Images)
Jean-Pierre said the most recent report from February stated that an “extremely” detailed neurological examination had been performed, assuring there were no findings consistent with a stroke, multiple sclerosis or a central neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s.
“Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No,” she told reporters after being pressed further on the matter. “Is he being treated for Parkinson’s? No, no. Is he on medication for Parkinson’s? No. So, those are the things I can give you full details about.”
Parkinson’s disease specialist Dr. Kevin Cannard met with Dr. Kevin O’Connor and two others at the White House residential clinic on January 17, as was first reported. New York Post show.
According to the White House visitor log, Dr. John E. Attwood, a cardiologist at Walter Reed, also attended the 5 p.m. meeting. The fourth person at the meeting has not been identified.
A report from “The Atlantic” says President Biden “should resign” from his position after his poor performance in last week’s debate. (Getty Images)
The New York Times reported that Kennard visited the White House eight times in eight months last year. Kennard is a neurologist who recently published a paper on Parkinson’s, the Times reported.
White House records show Cannard traveled from July 2023 to March 2024, and any more recent information will not be released until later due to the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy.
The Times also reported that according to records from when Biden was vice president under the Obama administration, Kennard visited and accompanied family 10 times in 2012, four times in 2013, once in 2014, four times in 2015 and eight times in 2016.
During a press briefing on Monday, Biden’s national security spokesman John Kirby was asked if he had seen the president in this way. during the debate,
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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a daily briefing at the White House in Washington, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Kirby told reporters he would not talk about every meeting he had with the president, adding that he was the president’s spokesman.
“I can tell you that what I saw in that debate is not typical of the person, the leader and the commander in chief that I’ve spent many, many hours with over the last two and a half years, in terms of the specificity of the way he probing questions,” Kirby said. “Just this morning, he was asking me questions about the situation on the European continent that I couldn’t answer, and I told him I’d have to talk to him.”
As the meeting progressed, reporters expressed their frustration with White House officials for not speaking directly, even accusing the president’s communications team of first answering questions, then coming back and clarifying what they had previously said.
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Still, after a flurry of questions from reporters, trying to get every single detail. health of the president Jean-Pierre expressed disappointment when his credibility was questioned by some members of the press, and over whether he was still fit to serve as president.
Jean-Pierre told members of the press that he objected to the journalists’ behaviour, because every day he and his team meet with them during press briefings, and they do their best to provide the information available at that time.
“This is what we do and we understand the freedom of the press. We respect the freedom of the press,” Jean-Pierre said. “To say that I have information or that I am hinting at something else is inappropriate, it’s very inappropriate in fact. I think that people who have been watching and following this briefing for the last week can say that we are doing our best in this briefing to provide the information that we have.
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“I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I’m wrong. At least I’ll admit that,” she said. “And sometimes I don’t have the information. And I will always, always admit that. But I’m angry about what happened at the beginning of this briefing. It’s not right.”
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
