White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that President Joe Biden is being treated for Parkinson’s disease in a heated exchange that came after it was revealed that a Parkinson’s specialist had visited the White House on multiple occasions.
The exchange came on the heels of a report that an expert on Parkinson’s disease visited the Biden White House eight times in the last eight months, adding fuel to widespread concerns over the 81-year-old president’s mental and physical health.
“Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No. Is he being treated for Parkinson’s? No. He’s not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No,” Jean-Pierre said in a tense exchange with members of the press addressing concerns that the president might have the neurodegenerative disease that can include dementia as a symptom.
“A wide variety of specialists from the Walter Reed system visit the White House complex to treat thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds,” the White House said in a statement addressing the expert’s repeated visits.
.@PressSec says: “Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No. Is he being treated for Parkinson’s? No. He’s not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No.” pic.twitter.com/ADY6YMcO3U
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 8, 2024
Concerns about Biden’s health hit a fever pitch following the first presidential debate, which was widely viewed as an abysmal night for the Democrat president. Biden sat down with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos and discussed his debate performance, calling it a “bad night” and blaming his performance on a cold.
Biden was also unwilling to commit to taking an independent cognitive test and releasing the results to the American public. “Every day I have that test. Everything I do,” Biden stated.
A recent report from The New York Times, titled “Biden’s Lapses Are Said to Be Increasingly Common and Worrisome,” claims that those in the president’s orbit have witnessed Biden increasingly slip up in conversation, becoming confused and disoriented.
“People who have spent time with President Biden over the last few months or so said the lapses appear to have grown more frequent,” the report reads. “[C]urrent and former officials and others who encountered him behind closed doors noticed that he increasingly appeared confused or listless, or would lose the thread of conversations.”