Why Former WH doctor for Trump, Obama blasts ‘alarming’ Biden health report: ‘The cover-up needs to end’
EXCLUSIVE: Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, is calling for an end to the “cover-up” of President Biden’s health after the president’s physical earlier this week claimed that he is healthy and fit to serve as commander in chief.
“The majority of Americans can see that Biden’s mental health is in total decline, yet there is no transparency from the White House on what’s going on, if anything, to address this issue and his inability to do his job,” Jackson told Fox News Digital. “Yesterday’s written physical exam report released by Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, further confirms that this administration is still adamant about concealing the truth.”
Jackson also took issue with the fact that the report from Biden’s physical, the second one he’s taken since entering office, made no mention of the president undergoing a cognitive test amid his “deteriorating mental health.”
“Nowhere in the report was there mention of Biden’s deteriorating mental health,” Jackson said. “This is alarming, considering I have already sent three letters to the White House demanding that Biden receive a cognitive test and that the results be made public, all of which have been ignored. Everyone can see something is wrong — the cover-up needs to end.”
Jackson, who previously served as the White House physician to former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, faced criticism from Obama for his critique of Biden’s cognitive health on the 2020 campaign trail.
In his 2022 memoir, Jackson detailed a stern and “scathing” email he received from Obama about comments he had made on Twitter about then-presidential candidate Biden’s mental state.
“I have made a point of not commenting on your service in my successor’s administration and have always spoken highly of you both in public and in private. You always served me and my family well, and I have considered you not only a fine doctor and service member but also a friend,” Obama wrote in the email to Jackson.
“That’s why I have to express my disappointment at the cheap shot you took at Joe Biden via Twitter. It was unprofessional and beneath the office that you once held. It was also disrespectful to me and the many friends you had in our administration. You were the personal physician to the President of the United States as well as an admiral in the U.S. Navy. I expect better, and I hope upon reflection that you will expect more of yourself in the future,” Obama added in his message to Jackson
In a memo released Thursday, White House physician Kevin O’Connor, a retired Army colonel who has served in the role since January 2021, wrote: “President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
One lesion was discovered on Biden’s chest and removed, according to the report, and the president still experiences a stiff gait, but it hasn’t worsened since last year.
Biden continues to experience symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux, primarily having to clear his throat more often, mostly after meals, the report said. O’Connor said the reflux is the source of Biden’s throat clearing and coughing.
O’Connor noted that the main medical event for Biden in the past year was his upper respiratory infection from COVID-19 last summer. He said that Biden’s oxygen levels never fell below 97%.
The results come as the president faces questions about his age amid speculation that he will seek re-election in 2024, though he has not yet announced his official decision.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took aim at the president, as well as his predecessor, former President Trump, on Wednesday, saying that politicians over the age of 75 should have to take a mental cognitive test before assuming office.
In 2021, Biden was evaluated by O’Connor, who wrote at the time that the president “remains a healthy, vigorous, 78-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”
