Concerns about Biden’s health have reached a fever pitch following his dismal debate performance with former President Trump and have been further fuelled by reports that a neurology specialist had made multiple visits to the White House during the 46th president’s administration.
Parkinson’s disease specialist Dr. Kevin Canard visited the White House eight times over an eight-month period between July 2023 and March of this year, raising concerns over Biden’s mental state and health — concerns that have been building for years. But the White House has repeatedly downplayed concerns about the visits, insisting that the White House Medical Unit is made up of many different medical professionals who frequent 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and that Dr. Canard only met with Biden during his annual medical checkups.
Cannard describes himself on his LinkedIn page as a “neurology specialist supporting the White House Medical Unit,” and has held various positions at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, since 1998. The Maryland doctor shot to prominence last week after news broke that he had made multiple visits to the White House, but Cannard has kept a low profile outside of medical circles.
“[Cannard’s] “As part of his residency program at Walter Reed, his scope of practice includes both general neurology and movement disorders,” Cannard’s biography, posted on a networking platform for medical professionals, states. “He has more than 30 years of experience using botulinum toxin to treat movement disorders, spasticity, and pain syndromes, including headaches. He spent the first 20 years of his medical career on active duty in the United States Army, retiring as a colonel in 2008. He has worked as a civilian physician at Walter Reed since then.”
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President Biden stressed that he has no intention of stepping down from office. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Cannard has made small donations to the Biden campaign dating back to 2020, totaling $3,300. Federal election records show.
During a White House briefing on Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, in a tense exchange, was pressed by media to say whether the eight visits related specifically to Biden’s health. Jean-Pierre instead declined to identify Canard by name. She did confirm that a neurologist had seen Biden three times since taking office for his three-yearly physicals.
“I’m on the White House visitor’s book. It’s publicly available. I looked at it before I came here. Anybody can see it,” CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe said at a press conference Monday when questioning a spokesperson about Cannard being listed on the White House visitor’s book eight times.
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“I can’t confirm anything from here because I have to respect their privacy, and I think they would be happy about that,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Patient or doctor?” Mr. O’Keefe asked.
“We must respect their privacy,” Jean-Pierre replied.
“This is public knowledge,” NBC News correspondent Kelly O’Donnell interjected, to which O’Keeffe added, “Unless the White House answers this question, Karine, you’re going to drag this out.”
Parkinson’s disease specialist meets with Biden’s physician at White House
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the remarks during a regular White House press briefing on July 8, 2024. Reporters asked a range of questions about the NATO summit and President Biden’s health. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
By Monday evening, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s White House physician, released a statement clarifying that Cannard had visited the White House three times for Biden’s annual checkups.
He said Cannard was chosen for Biden’s annual physical not “because he specializes in movement disorders, but because he is a highly trained and well-respected neurologist at Walter Reed and throughout the military health system, with an exceptionally broad range of expertise and the flexibility to work with a wide variety of patients and problems.”
The letter also said Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of annual physicals.
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O’Connor said Biden’s medical examination in February found no signs of Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, ascending lateral sclerosis, stroke or cervical myelopathy.
Jean-Pierre was grilled again on Tuesday about Canard’s visit, when he incorrectly said one of their meetings this year was not related to Biden’s health.
The White House as seen from Lafayette Park on May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/John Elswick)
“The meeting [between Cannard and O’Connor] “Did it have to do with the president’s own care?” the Associated Press asked Jean-Pierre at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I can say that it is not so,” replied Jean-Pierre.
The spokesman backtracked late Tuesday, saying the Jan. 17 meeting with Canard at the White House was actually about Biden’s health, specifically the president’s annual physical.
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“Since the question does not mention a date, the meeting on January 17th [presidential physician] doctor [Kevin] “Dr. O’Connor and Dr. Canard were there to perform a medical examination on the president,” Jean-Pierre told The Associated Press.
“The president has seen Dr Canard three times, including one for a medical examination. The results of each examination have been made public,” Jean-Pierre added.
Asked whether it was normal for other doctors, such as a dermatologist or cardiologist, to visit the White House eight times in eight months, an administration spokesman referred Fox Digital to Jean-Pierre’s comments from earlier this week and emphasized that the White House Medical Unit also oversees the White House military staff.
“There are thousands of military members, and I’m sure you all understand that. There are thousands of military members who come here, and they’re not just coming here, they’re getting care from the medical unit, right? They’re getting care from the White House Medical Unit. Some of the people who come here are often dermatologists, neurologists. They’re coming here because the White House Medical Unit is taking care of people,” she said in an official transcript.
Concerns about Biden’s mental acuity have grown in the last month. He failed in the debate Biden was at times stumped and gave incomprehensible responses in a husky, husky voice during the debate. The debate caused panic among Democratic supporters and the media, who described his performance as a failure and fueling concerns about Biden’s intellectual ability and age.
Biden insisted his poor performance wasn’t due to any serious health issues, but rather because he was exhausted from a chaotic schedule and was battling a cold. (Getty Images)
The aftermath of the debate and his first face-to-face interviews with the media last week failed to allay concerns, but Biden vowed to press on.
Biden said in an interview with George Stephanopoulos last week: He will undergo a cognitive test. And he had an obligation to make the results public, something that Biden has repeatedly avoided.
“No, nobody said I had to do that. They said I was OK with it,” Biden responded.
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Appearing on MSNBC this week, he claimed his poor performance wasn’t due to any serious health issues, but rather that his chaotic schedule had left him exhausted and he was battling a cold.
“If something was wrong that night, it’s not going to go away overnight,” he said. “That’s why I was out. I’ve tested myself, I’ve tested everywhere I go. I’ve been out and made my case. The night of the debate, I was out until 2 a.m. that night. It drives me nuts when people talk about it.”
On the left is Joe Biden as Vice President, and on the right is today. (Getty Images)
Rep. Ronny Jackson, a Texas Republican who served in the White House medical office under George W. Bush and then as physician to the president under both the Obama and Trump administrations, told Fox News Digital after the debate that Biden “is not the same person” he was as Obama’s vice president.
“In 2020, I was critical of Joe Biden as being clearly unfit for a first term,” he said. “I was in the White House when Joe Biden was vice president, and the person we’ve seen since he announced his candidacy is not the same person who served as vice president for eight years.”
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No other doctors have examined Biden, and he has not released any information about his mental or physical condition, but questions have erupted about whether he has Parkinson’s disease, with outside doctors saying the president is showing classic signs of brain damage.
“We could have diagnosed him from across the mall,” neurologist Dr. Tom Pitts recently told NBC News.
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“He has a classic feature of neurodegeneration, which is difficulty finding words. It’s not, ‘Oh, I can’t find the words,’ but it’s due to degeneration in the areas that search for words,” Pitts said.
The White House maintains that Biden has not been and is not currently being treated for Parkinson’s disease.
“Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No,” Jean-Pierre said Monday. “Is he being treated for Parkinson’s? No. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No. So I can answer those questions fully.”
