White House Press Briefing Gets Heated Amid Biden Health Questions

Monday's press briefing got heated amid a testy exchange between White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and CBS News correspondent Ed O'Keefe.

Jean-Pierre repeatedly said she wouldn't discuss with reporters, including O'Keefe, why a Parkinson's specialist visited the White House amid concerns within the Democratic Party about President Joe Biden's health as he seeks re-election.

Recently, news outlets have reported that an expert on Parkinson's disease from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House eight times in eight months. The visits reportedly began last summer and continued through this spring. According to the New York Times, White House visitor logs show that the expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, met with Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, at least once.

When reached via email Monday, Jameson Crabtree, the public affairs officer for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, told Newsweek that "because of the nature of the inquiry, I am going to route this to [a] higher level."

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told CNN on Monday: "A wide variety of specialists from the Walter Reed system visit the White House complex to treat the thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds."

Biden struggled to complete sentences and respond to basic questions about his campaign during the debate with former President Donald Trump on June 27, sparking fresh concerns about the 81-year-old's age and mental capacity to compete against Trump and serve another four-year term as president. While some have publicly supported Biden, others are calling for him to step aside and allow another candidate to face Trump in November's election.

Earlier Monday, Biden issued a warning to his Democratic detractors in Congress, saying that calls for him to exit the race could aid Trump's campaign.

During one particularly testy exchange Monday, O'Keefe exclaimed that the White House visitor logs were "public information," and that Jean-Pierre was allowing the questions surrounding the Parkinson's expert's visit to "fester longer."

O'Keefe also said: "We're a little miffed around here about how information is shared with the press corps about him," seemingly referring to a perceived lack of information coming out of the White House about President Biden.

As she was peppered with questions from O'Keefe and others regarding the nature of Cannard's visits to the White House, Jean-Pierre continued to reply that she "can't share names broadly" in press briefings for "security reasons."

She told the press corps she "cannot confirm any of that because we have to keep that private."

Jean-Pierre repeatedly asserted that Biden has seen a neurologist three times, and that each assessment was connected with his annual physical. She told reporters that Biden has never been treated for Parkinson's, nor has the president taken any medicine to treat the progressive disorder that affects the nervous system.

Later in the briefing, Jean-Pierre said she took offense to what O'Keefe alluded to over claims during the press conference that she is "holding information" from the White House press corps.

Jean-Pierre called those claims "really unfair" following the heated exchange with O'Keefe.

"I am not sharing, confirming names from here," she said during the contentious exchange. "It doesn't matter how hard you push me, it doesn't matter how angry you get with me, I'm not going to confirm a name. It doesn't matter if it's even in the log, I am not going to do that from here."

Newsweek emailed the White House for additional comment after Monday's press conference.

Update 7/8/24, 5:14 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.