White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s heated exchanges with reporters were headline news on Monday.
Reporters focused primarily on reports that Dr. Kevin Canard, a neurologist at Walter Reed Military Medical Center who specializes in Parkinson’s disease, had met several times at the White House over the past year with Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor.
But at his daily press conference, Jean-Pierre repeatedly would not confirm to reporters that Canard was a visiting physician, citing safety and privacy concerns, even though Canard was listed on a public visitor’s register.
Several reporters, notably Ed O’Keefe of CBS, were quick to criticize her for not disclosing the doctor’s name.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers questions from reporters during a press conference at the White House in Washington, USA, on July 8, 2024. (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein)
Jean-Pierre clashes with reporters questioning neurologist’s White House visit: “I’m offended”
The two men engaged in a lengthy and tense exchange, with O’Keefe, assisted by NBC correspondent Kelly O’Donnell, stressing that Cannard’s visitor records were public.
“There is no reason for such aggressive arguing with me,” Jean-Pierre scolded the reporters.
“Well, what are we upset about here? “Information about him was given to the press,” an exasperated O’Keefe said. Several other reporters also continued to question Jean-Pierre about the name of his doctor and the details of his examination.
“I’m upset by the references that Ed made… to suggest that I had information or to imply otherwise,” Jean-Pierre said at a press conference about his interactions with O’Keefe. [fair]It’s really not fair.”
She went on to describe the backlash as a “personal attack.”
Several White House reporters also commented on the exchange later on their networks, with CNN’s Kayla Touche recalling the experience noting that there was widespread frustration across the press corps.
“The atmosphere in the room was very contentious and there was clear frustration among reporters about how difficult it was to get basic answers about whether the president had seen this specialist more than three times and who he treated,” said Touche, who specializes in neurology but also has expertise in Parkinson’s disease.
Several journalists on Monday criticized Karine Jean-Pierre’s responses to questions. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
She continued, “When asked specifically to answer yes or no as to whether the President had met with this expert on any other occasion, there was no answer. That was one of the most frustrating responses to the press and I think one of the reasons several reporters were infuriated. There are still more questions than answers on this matter.”
ABC’s Selina Wang also described a “very awkward exchange” that took place in the briefing room, specifically over whether Biden had been seeing a specialist for Parkinson’s disease.
“She was unable to answer yes or no to that very simple question,” Wang reported.
The White House press corps’ turn against Jean-Pierre and her refusal to answer questions directly became a talking point across the X.
“Wow. Three and a half years into President Biden’s presidency, the corrupt liberal media has officially turned on the White House. Their reporters are attacking Karine Jean-Pierre with all their might,” said Steve Cortez, a former adviser to President Trump.
RedState writer Bonchie commented, “This is incredible. It’s like the end of The Matrix, when Agent Smith realizes his bullets no longer work on Neo. Jean-Pierre has no idea what to do because the press isn’t responding to his mistressing.”
“National security means we can’t make public whether the president has been tested for Parkinson’s. It would be incredible to watch the full story unfold if there was even the slightest ‘respectful’ resistance,” agreed Stephen Miller, a contributing editor at The Spectator.
Radio host Buck Sexton wrote, “I’m not sure what’s more funny: KJP’s ridiculous dodging of a question about Biden’s dementia, or the reporters’ hysterical reaction to it, making them look like useless buffoons.”
“They’ve been lying all this time,” declared Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri).
“You can certainly see the Washington press corps getting annoyed with the way KJP has run literally every single press conference so far,” podcast host Noam Blum commented.
Karine Jean-Pierre speaks out about whether Biden has dementia after devastating debate defeat
Karine Jean-Pierre declined to directly answer whether Biden was seeing the neurologist who was visiting the White House. (AP/Susan Walsh)
“It’s a spectacular disaster,” said author Scott Adams.
Republican spokeswoman Erin Perrin wrote, “KJP has lost operational control of the briefing room by being disrespectful to the White House press corps. She argues with reporters about their questions. It’s not easy to incur the wrath of this highly professional press corps, but KJP did just that today.”
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Fox News’ Joseph Wolfson contributed to this report.
