White House officials have defended Biden’s health and denied that he has been treated for Parkinson’s, despite a meeting between a Parkinson’s expert and the president’s physician earlier this year.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was bombarded with questions about the president’s health, particularly about recent reports that a top neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center met with Biden’s physician at the White House in January.
Reports about the Jan. 17 meeting emerged as the 81-year-old president has come under increased scrutiny over his age and mental health following his poor performance at the June 27 debate in Atlanta.
Asked about the meetings with doctors, Jean-Pierre said the White House has publicly disclosed that Biden has undergone comprehensive medical examinations over the past three years, including meetings with neurologists.
Parkinson’s disease specialist meets with Biden’s physician at White House
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied reports that President Biden was being treated for Parkinson’s disease. (Getty Images)
Jean-Pierre said the latest report in February stated that a “very” detailed neurological examination had been carried out and that there were no findings consistent with central nervous system disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease.
“Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No,” she told reporters after being pressed further on the subject. “Is he being treated for Parkinson’s? No. He’s not being treated for Parkinson’s. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No. So I can answer those questions fully.”
Dr. Kevin Canard, a Parkinson’s disease expert, met with Dr. Kevin O’Connor and two others at the White House residence clinic on Jan. 17, according to records first reported by New York Post show.
Dr. John E. Atwood, a cardiologist at Walter Reed Hospital, was also at the 5 p.m. meeting, according to White House visitor records. A fourth person in attendance was not identified.
Biden repeatedly dodged questions about whether he would undergo a neurological exam, saying, “Nobody’s saying I have to.”
According to a report from The Atlantic, President Biden declared that he “must resign” following his performance in last week’s debate. (Getty Images)
The New York Times reported that Canard, a neurologist who recently published a paper on Parkinson’s disease, visited the White House eight times over an eight-month period last year.
White House records show Canard’s visits spanned from July 2023 to March 2024, and more recent information will be released at a later date under the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy.
The Times also reported that records dating back to Biden’s time as vice president under the Obama administration showed Cannard visited the country on family vacations 10 times in 2012, four times in 2013, one time in 2014, four times in 2015 and eight times in 2016.
At the start of Monday’s press conference, Biden’s national security spokesman, John Kirby, was asked if he’d seen anything similar to what happened with the president during the debate.
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National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby spoke at the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Kirby told reporters he would never discuss every meeting he’s had with the president, adding that he is the president’s press secretary.
“All I can say is that what we saw in that debate, in terms of the specificity of how the questions were asked, did not reflect the man, the leader, the commander in chief that I’ve spent many hours with over the last two and a half years,” Kirby said. “Just this morning he asked me a question about the situation on the continent of Europe that I couldn’t answer, and I told him I’d have to get back to him.”
As the meeting progressed, reporters continued to express frustration with White House officials’ failure to respond candidly, even accusing the president’s communications team of walking back and clarifying earlier statements after answering questions.
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Still, Jean-Pierre expressed frustration after some reporters questioned her credibility after bombarding her with questions seeking every detail about the president’s health and whether he was able to fulfill his duties as president.
Jean-Pierre told reporters she was upset by the journalists’ attitude because she and her team meet with them every day at press conferences and they do their best to provide the information they have at the time.
“That’s our job, and we understand freedom of the press. We respect freedom of the press,” Jean-Pierre said. “To say that I’m hiding information or insinuating anything else is unfair. It’s really unfair. I think the people who are watching this briefing, and who have been watching it for the past week, will say that we’re doing our best to present the information that we have in this briefing.”
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“I’ll be the first to admit, sometimes I get it wrong, I’ll at least admit that,” she said, “and sometimes I don’t have the information, and I’ll always admit that. But I’m upset about what happened at the beginning of this briefing. This is not OK.”
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
