The White House communications team’s credibility regarding knowledge of President Biden’s political future has come under national scrutiny for weeks as they have tried to assure the public that Biden is not withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race while simultaneously fielding questions from reporters about growing concerns about his health.
“All I can do is shake my head. No one in the White House can be trusted when it comes to Joe Biden’s health. From Vice President Harris to the White House physician to the press secretary, they covered up the president’s weaknesses. They hid the truth. This is a scandal,” Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to President George W. Bush, told Fox News Digital.
Voters and social media commenters across the country have said in recent days that their communications team has been left out of the loop amid growing concerns about Biden’s health and claims that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
When Biden announced his withdrawal from the campaign, only a handful of White House and campaign officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon, were informed of the letter prior to it, but some senior staff found out about the decision through Zoom calls and most others found out through Biden’s public announcement on Twitter, media reported.
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Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the remarks during the White House’s daily briefing on Oct. 17, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
For weeks, the White House communications team, led by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, had denied claims that Biden would withdraw and said he was in good health and there was no need to worry.
“Absolutely not,” Jean-Pierre declared at a July 3 press conference when asked if Biden planned to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
Jean-Pierre’s messaging was backed up by White House press secretary Andrew Bates, who has frequently issued statements to the media saying Biden was on track to win while downplaying questions about the president’s health.
“The president has informed both leaders that he is their party’s nominee, that he intends to win, and that he looks forward to working with them to pass a 100-day package to support working families,” Bates said in comments to The New York Times last week.
The White House and family have given conflicting accounts of whether Biden’s health issues influenced his decision to drop out of the race.
“That is not happening,” Bates said Friday when asked whether the Biden family has discussed plans for the president to leave office. “Those who make those allegations are not speaking on behalf of the Biden family or team. They will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”
Immediately after the June 27 CNN debate, concerned party leaders began pressuring Biden to withdraw from the race. Dozens of Democrats praised Biden’s work in the White House, but called for him to hand the baton over to another candidate better suited to challenge former President Trump. Media reports said that senior Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), were working behind the scenes to encourage Biden to withdraw.
Ahead of the Democratic National Convention, there were a number of media reports that Democratic leaders were trying to revitalize the party without Biden, but the White House communications team continued to dismiss the reports as nonsense.
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Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates complained that reporters were questioning Biden’s mental capacity after Special Counsel Hoare’s report noted the president’s “poor memory.” (Getty Images)
For example, Bates ran a social media campaign to deny media reports that Biden was about to drop out of the race, while Jean-Pierre continued to promote Biden’s accomplishments in office, including that Biden “will continue to defend reproductive freedom” and that the president “went on the road meeting face-to-face with the American people” in the days following the debate.
Despite categorically denying that there was even any discussion that the president should step down, Biden ultimately stepped down in a tweet on Sunday afternoon.
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“Serving as your president has been the greatest honor of my life. Seeking reelection“I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to step aside and focus on fulfilling the duties of my presidency for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a letter he sent to X on Sunday afternoon announcing his withdrawal from the race.
According to media reports shortly after the announcement, White House staff and campaign members were shocked to learn of the decision through X’s post and a Zoom call on Sunday.
President Biden arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on July 23, 2024, after spending about a week in Delaware recovering from COVID-19. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden has been self-isolating at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, since being diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. He will return to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and is expected to further address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening about his exit from the race.
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Following Biden’s withdrawal from the race, social media commenters accused key members of the White House communications team of not being “in the dark” about Biden’s plans to drop out and mocked staffers like Bates.
The calls for Biden to drop out of the race stemmed from his poor performance in last month’s debate with Trump, in which Biden stumbled, lost his train of thought and appeared more reserved than his usual public demeanor. The June 27 debate sparked a flurry of calls from traditional allies and traditional media for Biden to drop out of the race, while conservatives and critics have long said they were concerned about Biden’s mental health.
As questions grow over the president’s health, the White House communications team has fielded a barrage of questions about whether the president suffers from Parkinson’s disease or another illness.
Exchanges between the media and Jean-Pierre and his communications team became more heated as reporters pressed the spokesman for answers about the president’s health and questioned the credibility of the communications team.
During a tense exchange earlier this month, Jean-Pierre was asked by media whether eight visits to the White House by a Parkinson’s disease specialist were specifically relevant to Biden’s health. Jean-Pierre declined to identify the doctor by name, though she did acknowledge that a neurologist has seen Biden three times during his three medical exams since taking office.
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Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers questions about the NATO summit and the president’s health during the daily press briefing at the White House on July 8, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“It’s on the White House visitor log. It’s publicly available. I looked at it before I came here. Anybody can see it,” said CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe, who asked the press secretary about Dr. Kevin Canard being on the list eight times during a press conference earlier this month. in the White House visitor log.
“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.
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“This is public knowledge,” NBC News correspondent Kelly O’Donnell interjected, with O’Keefe adding, “Unless the White House answers this question, we’re going to drag this out, Karine.”
President Biden spoke in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on September 15, 2023. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Jean-Pierre was grilled again about Canard’s visit during a separate press conference, when he incorrectly said one of their meetings this year was not related to Biden’s health.
“The meeting [between Cannard and O’Connor] “Did it have to do with the president’s own care?” the Associated Press asked.
“I can say that it is not so,” replied Jean-Pierre.
The spokesman walked back his statement later the same day, saying the White House meeting with Canard on January 17 was in fact about Biden’s health, specifically the president’s annual physical.
Reporters also called on the White House to allow Biden’s White House physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, to speak directly about the president’s health, but the administration argued that O’Connor’s written reports on Biden’s health and medical exam reports were fully transparent.
President Joe Biden walks along the Colonnade at the White House with his physician, Kevin O’Connor, on August 28, 2023. (Manuel Balce Senator/Associated Press)
“The detailed summaries that Dr. O’Connor has made available online to the public are far more extensive than the presidential medical documents released during the previous administration,” Bates told Fox News Digital earlier this month when asked if O’Connor would speak directly to the media. “Indeed, the American public heard Dr. O’Connor’s daily written reports about President Biden’s COVID-19 infection for over two weeks. He had the integrity to immediately make his condition public, unlike President Trump’s physicians while in office.”
O’Connor has repeatedly made statements, President’s Health Update Since taking office, Biden has spoken about when he found out he had COVID-19 and provided an update on Biden’s annual medical exam, but has not attended a press conference or answered reporters’ questions.
“Dr. O’Connor has served on the faculty of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, completed U.S. Army Air Forces Medical Training and was one of the first U.S. soldiers to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq. His unique expertise is sought after throughout the medical community and he is respected for his candor, attention to detail and work ethic,” Bates continued.
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The White House has said Biden does not suffer from Parkinson’s disease, dementia or any other degenerative disease.
Jesse Waters speaks with former President Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance. (Fox News)
Following Biden’s withdrawal from the race, Republican lawmakers have called on him to step down from the White House altogether.
“If Joe Biden is unfit to run for president, he is unfit to serve. He must resign immediately. The sooner November 5th comes, the sooner we can,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said in a statement Sunday.
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“If Democrats have determined that Joe Biden is unfit to run for reelection, they have made it clear that he is also unfit to control nuclear weapons codes,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said Sunday. “Biden must resign immediately.”
Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, had also called for Biden to resign before Biden’s shock announcement.
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“Once Joe Biden ends his reelection campaign, how can you justify remaining in office?,” Vance posted X hours before the announcement. “Not running for reelection would be a clear admission that President Trump was right all along that Biden is not mentally qualified to be Commander in Chief. There is no middle ground.”
