The White House has yet to issue an embarrassing clarification after spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said a meeting between the president’s personal physician and a neurologist had nothing to do with Joe Biden’s personal care.
In fact, it was part of Biden’s annual medical exam, as she later admitted.
It is the latest gaffe by officials as the country’s oldest-ever president fights for his political life amid questions about his fitness for the job.
These clarifications have fueled the feeling that his advisers are not being entirely honest with Americans about the 81-year-old’s health.
On Monday, Jean-Pierre had to explain why she had said at a press conference that Biden had not been examined by his doctor after his disastrous performance during the debate, when in fact he had been examined by Dr. Kevin O’Connor.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to issue a new clarification on the president’s health care issue Tuesday night, reversing her previous response
A day later, she was forced to issue a statement admitting that Biden had met with neurologist Dr. Kevin Cannard for an examination, despite having said otherwise during a press conference hours earlier.
“Since the date was not mentioned in the question, I want to clarify that the January 17 meeting between Dr. O’Connor and Dr. Cannard was for the purpose of the President’s physical examination,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement to the AP.
“It was one of three times the President has seen Dr. Cannard, each time for his physical examination. The findings of each examination have been made public.”
The White House has struggled to explain Cannard’s regular visits to the White House since they became public over the weekend.
On Monday, Jean-Pierre refused to confirm even his name, citing security and privacy concerns, angering reporters who pointed out that the visits were recorded in visitor logs.
A day later, she was still struggling with questions about the nature of his visits.
Can you tell me if that one meeting [between Cannard and O’Connor] “had to do with caring for the president himself?” she was asked
Jean-Pierre replied: ‘I can say that it is not so.’
Her subsequent clarification will not alleviate the crisis brewing in the White House, nor the sense that the press is not selling its side of the story well.
Biden has been under intense pressure to abandon his re-election campaign since his troubled debate performance last month, filled with awkward silences and non sequiturs.
President Joe Biden, seen here at the NATO summit in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, is fighting for his political life as his aides are accused of not being transparent
Dr. Keven Cannard (left), a neurology expert, visited the White House eight times in eight months, including a meeting with Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor (right)
George Clooney became the latest high-profile supporter on Wednesday to demand that he step aside.
Biden’s health dominated the daily White House press briefing. But on Monday, it was Jean-Pierre who came under immediate scrutiny, amid allegations that officials were not transparent.
“My first question for you is about the credibility of the White House when it comes to conversations about the president’s health,” said Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller, former chairman of the White House Correspondent’s Association.
She insisted she did not want to give misleading information when asked whether Biden had undergone a check-up after the debate.
“I didn’t want to mislead anyone. I was still thinking about the medical exam. I was still thinking about the physical exam,” she said. “That’s how I answered the question.”
A memo released by the White House Monday night after Jean-Pierre refused to discuss Cannard’s visits revealed that he was the neurologist who examined the president for his annual medical exams for the past three years.
The situation only became truly grim when she was later asked why Cannard had visited her eight times in eight months.
She said she could not comment for security and privacy reasons.
“You’re not answering a very simple, direct question,” CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe shouted.
“I’m telling you he’s been to a neurologist three times,” the spokesman said, explaining that every time he’s had a physical, he’s been seen by a neurologist. “So that’s the answer to that question.”
But what about Cannard’s visits? Was that what she was talking about?
“I hear you, boys, wait a minute,” said Jean-Pierre.
“There is no reason to go back and forth with me in this aggressive manner.”
Only later that evening did the White House clarify the facts by stating that Cannard was indeed the doctor who performed the president’s neurological exam for his annual physical.