Doctor’s Background Raises Questions After Trump Health Alarm
A doctor who recently sounded the alarm regarding President Donald Trump’s health isn’t a practicing physician but instead serves as the NAACP’s director of health equity.
Chris Pernell often appears as a medical commentator on CNN, where he focuses on promoting equitable health outcomes and transforming healthcare through a broader socioeconomic lens that considers the individual’s overall well-being.
Though Pernell has not practiced medicine since completing his residency, his career has primarily revolved around initiatives in Medical Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Last week, he raised concerns over Trump’s diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a condition confirmed by White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt.
On CNN, Pernell painted a rather bleak picture of Trump’s health condition, which is actually more common among older adults. Interestingly, Pernell is also linked to a church whose leaders have labeled Trump as “antichrist” and described white evangelical Christians in a rather negative light.
With an MD from Duke University School of Medicine and a residency completed at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Pernell’s LinkedIn profile does not indicate any experience treating patients, raising eyebrows about his recent commentary.
Currently, he leads the NAACP Health Equity Center and previously held the position of “Chief of Strategic Integration and Health Equity” at a university hospital in Newark, New Jersey. There, he initiated the hospital’s first diversity and inclusion strategy and hired its first equity and inclusion director.
In 2022, Pernell appeared on the Karen Hunter Show, discussing various compliance probes from hospital leadership linked to his vocal criticisms of Trump and the Republican party.
Just a year prior, he appeared on MSNBC, expressing skepticism about white supremacists questioning the efficacy of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine. Pernell eventually resigned from his hospital position, claiming he was targeted for racism.
