President Joe Biden reportedly told a group of Democratic governors on Wednesday that he saw a medical doctor after last week’s debate against former President Donald Trump, contradicting a statement made by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the same day.
Three people with knowledge of Biden’s private meeting with more than 20 Democratic governors said Biden informed them that he was examined by a doctor after the debate, adding that the doctor gave him the all-clear, POLITICO reported. The president’s meeting with the governors took place as some Democrats and political commentators expressed concern about the president’s fitness and ability to continue his re-election campaign following his detrimental debate performance.
During a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Jean-Pierre told CNN Senior White House Correspondent MJ Lee that Biden has not undergone “any kind of medical exam” since his annual physical in February.
“We were able to talk to his doctor about that, and that is a no,” the press secretary said.
“He hasn’t had any kind of medical exam?” Lee asked again.
Jean-Pierre simply replied, “No.”
Lee wrote on X Thursday morning that another White House spokesman, Andrew Bates, confirmed that “Biden was examined by his doctor in the days following last week’s debate ‘to check on his cold and was recovering well.”
White House spox Andrew Bates confirms Biden was examined by his doctor in the days following last week’s debate “to check on his cold and was recovering well.”
I asked WH press secretary yesterday if Biden had gotten any medical exam after his February physical and she said no: https://t.co/qhNHlElUTf pic.twitter.com/GOUUiXhIoR
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) July 4, 2024
“A White House official adds when Biden was seen by his doctor after the debate, it was a ‘brief check,’ not a physical. My question yesterday was not whether he had gotten another physical,” Lee added.
In an interview that aired Wednesday on a Wisconsin radio station, the president acknowledged that he “screwed up” his debate performance, but urged voters to focus on what he has done during his time in the White House.
“I had a bad night, I had a bad night. And the fact of the matter is … I screwed up, I made a mistake,” Biden said, according to NBC News.
“I didn’t have a good debate. That’s 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years. I led the economy back from the brink of collapse,” Biden continued.
Trump took some shots at Biden following the debate, saying, “[T]here is a BIG GAP for Crooked Joe to make up, and with his mind and memory completely shot, and marbles in his mouth, it’s not going to happen!”
In a leaked video that went viral on Wednesday night, Trump called Biden a “broken down pile of crap,” adding that he thinks Biden is “quitting the race.”