Joe Biden's Doctor Speaks Out as Parkinson's Rumors Swirl

President Joe Biden's doctor has clarified the circumstances of a neurologist's visits to the White House as media speculation swirls over the state of the president's neurological health.

Visitor logs reportedly show that Dr. Kevin Cannard, an expert in Parkinson's disease, has visited the White House eight times over the past eight months, meeting with Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, on at least one occasion.

Questions about the nature of Cannard's visits were at the forefront of a heated White House news conference on Monday, when CBS News correspondent Ed O'Keefe sparred with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and demanded further details.

O'Connor said in a memo released on Monday night that Cannard has been a neurological consultant at the White House since 2012 and sees a large number of patients at the White House complex, not just the president.

Cannard's only interactions with Biden have been to conduct "detailed neurological exams" during the president's three annual physicals, in which no major issues have been detected, according to O'Connor's memo.

The Context

Biden's mental fitness has been the subject of wide speculation since his troubling performance in last month's debate with former President Donald Trump, when the incumbent president at times appeared to lose his train of thought and have difficulty speaking clearly.

While not based on any medical evidence, speculation that the president could have Parkinson's emerged recently as reports from multiple media outlets indicated that Cannard visited the White House eight times in eight months.

What We Know

"I want to share with you background on why Dr. Kevin Cannard visited the White House," O'Connor wrote in his memo. "Dr. Cannard has been the Neurology Consultant to the White House Medical Unit since 2012. He was chosen for his breadth of experience and expertise across the specialty of Neurology."

"Dr. Cannard was chosen for this responsibility not because he is a movement disorder specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist here at Walter Reed and across the Military Health System, with a very wide expertise which makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems," he added.

O'Connor also made it clear that Biden "has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical," which suggests that the president is unlikely to be suffering from a serious neurological condition.

Views

Despite Jean-Pierre explicitly saying that Biden is not and has not been treated for Parkinson's during the news conference on Monday and an apparent total lack of any evidence of him suffering from the ailment, speculation continues.

During Monday night's Laura Coates Live on CNN, host Laura Coates suggested that O'Connor's memo may indicate that speculation about Biden's neurological state is "all much ado about nothing."

Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, the neurologist who created the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, said on the program that Biden not seeing any neurologists outside of his annual physicals should be "reassuring" for those with concerns.

CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers also argued that it was "patently absurd that we're having this discussion" on Biden's neurological health, saying that it was "extremely clear" that Cannard has not been treating the president.

What's Next

Biden will likely answer media questions about his mental and neurological health this week, with White House national security spokesman John Kirby announcing on Monday that the president would take part in a "big boy press conference" on Thursday.