KJP Stops Press Briefing, Drops Bombshell About Biden’s Health

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged on Tuesday that she was incorrect when she claimed that neurologist Dr. Kevin Cannard, a Parkinson’s disease expert, had not examined President Joe Biden in January.

Following Biden’s subpar debate performance against former President Donald Trump last month, there has been speculation within the medical community about a potential Parkinson’s diagnosis.

The New York Post reported over the weekend, citing White House visitor logs, that Cannard visited the White House on Jan. 17 and met with Biden’s presidential physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor.

O’Connor issued a letter on Monday night stating that Cannard had examined Biden during each of his annual physicals, with the results of the most recent exam being publicly released in late February.

The letter did not specify the reason for Cannard’s meeting with O’Connor in January.

During a White House news briefing on Tuesday, Seung Min Kim, an Associated Press reporter, inquired about a letter concerning Cannard’s meeting with O’Connor. Kim observed that it “didn’t seem to explicitly describe the nature of Dr. Cannard’s meeting with Dr. O’Connor.”

“So can you say whether that one meeting was related to care for the president himself?” she asked.

“I can say that it was not,” Jean-Pierre initially responded. However, she later contacted Kim to provide a revised statement.

“Because the date was not mentioned in the question, I want to be clear that the Jan. 17 meeting between Dr. O’Connor and Dr. Cannard was for the president’s physical,” Jean-Pierre clarified in a statement to the AP. “It was one of the three times the president has seen Dr. Cannard, each time for his physical. The findings from each exam have been released to the public.”

On Monday, the press secretary referenced Biden’s February health summary, saying, “An extremely detailed neurological exam was again reassuring in that there were no findings which would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis.”

During the same briefing, tensions escalated as CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe questioned Jean-Pierre about Dr. Cannard’s eight visits to the White House from August through March. The exchange underscored concerns about the frequency and purpose of these visits. Jean-Pierre responded, citing privacy reasons, and suggested that some patients could include military personnel, which raised security issues.

When asked specifically about Biden, Jean-Pierre reiterated the same response, prompting O’Keefe to remark, “That’s a very basic direct question.” He added, “That much you should be able to answer by this point.”

“We cannot share names of specialists, broadly,” Jean-Pierre stated. However, O’Keefe pointed out that Cannard’s name is in the visitor logs for anyone to see and continued to press for answers.

“Hold on a second. There’s no reason to go back and forth with me in this aggressive way,” Jean-Pierre responded.

“Well, we’re a little miffed around here about how information has been shared with the press corps about [Biden],” O’Keefe retorted.

In his letter released Monday, O’Connor, a retired U.S. Army doctor, explained that Cannard was chosen for Biden’s annual physicals “not because he is a movement disorder specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist here at Walter Reed and across the Military Health System, with a very wide expertise which makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems.”

The letter further stated that Biden did not see a neurologist outside of his annual exams, as reported by Fox News. O’Connor mentioned that he had obtained authorization from Biden and Cannard to disclose the neurologist’s identity and the purpose of his visits.

“To protect patient privacy for the thousands of patients of the White House Medical Unit and the physicians who treat them, normally we do not disclose the names of specialists we work with,” the letter noted.