MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell fiercely criticized the White House press corps on Monday after reporters peppered press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre with questions about a neurologist’s visits to the White House.
“We just got this letter, and if you saw any of the White House press briefing today, it was the White House press corps, many of them at their absolute worst,” O’Donnell said on “The Last Word.”
He said that, after reading the White House’s explanation, much of the press corps’ “out-of-control behavior” was “as bad a circus as it looked like.”
The New York Times reported Monday that an expert on Parkinson’s disease from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center had been to the White House eight times in as many months leading up to this spring, according to visitor logs.
Jean-Pierre subsequently fielded questions about Biden’s health in a testy briefing. She told reporters Biden was not being treated for the neurodegenerative disease.
However, she declined to state the purpose of Dr. Kevin Cannard’s visits or even confirm whether he had visited, prompting irritation from some present.
The White House later released a letter from Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, explaining that Cannard had been serving as a neurology consultant to the White House Medical Unit for over a decade and has for years held neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic to support “the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations.”
O’Connor said this information would not typically be disclosed, in order to protect patient privacy, but an exception had been made in this instance with Cannard’s permission, “in the interests of accuracy.”
Biden was examined by Cannard in each of his annual physicals, as already disclosed in his medical reports, O’Connor said, adding that Biden had not seen a neurologist outside that setting.
O’Donnell slammed The New York Times for reporting that Jean-Pierre “dodged and refused to answer questions” in the briefing. He argued she “was trying to be responsive to medical questions where there were limitations on what she could say.”
“How many times did a neurologist visit the Trump White House?” O’Donnell asked. “The White House press corps has no idea and will never know, because the Trump White House never, ever released the White House visitor logs.”
“The only reason The New York Times knows that this doctor was in the White House logs is because ... the Biden White House, unlike the Trump White House, makes that information public,” he added.
Biden has faced furious scrutiny about his health and ability to win the 2024 election following his shaky performance at the June 27 presidential debate.