OUCH! Doocy, Portnoy Torch WH Over Biden’s Doctor Hiding From Press

For the second press briefing in a row, the White House took a beating from the press due to President Joe Biden’s personal physician hiding from hungry reporters’ questions on the state of Biden’s COVID treatment, recovery, and overall health. When CBS News journalists report that it is bad, you know. The New York TimesPlease see the following: NewsMax all grilled the White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha on the administration’s lack of transparency. 

Due to Biden’s bout of COVID, and the fact that White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre can’t take questions from the media without stepping on rakes, Jha was trotted out to handle all questions related to Biden’s illness and other public health-related questions.

CBS News Radio White House correspondent Steven Portnoy was the first to take on Jha over Biden’s personal physician Kevin O’Connor’s absence. 

“One of the questions has been asked and we’ll have to raise it again. Is this why the president’s personal doctor isn’t here? Is there a reason why? Are you familiar with a reason? Portnoy posed the question. 

Jha responded that “you’ve heard every day from the President’s physician through his detailed accounting of his assessment, his plan.” Adding that “I have been speaking to both his personal physician. I speak to him every single day at length.” 

Portnoy wasn’t having it. Portnoy continued to grill Jha without success. 

I beg your pardon. There is a history here in this room of President’s physicians standing here to take questions, and in part, it’s because some of your colleagues in the medical profession do have questions and they’ve asked us to ask those questions about why the President’s doctor ordered him to stop taking Crestor & Eliquis. You have done your best to communicate the answer that the President’s physician has given. Are you aware of the reasons the President chose not to send out his physician to answer your questions?

Later on in the briefing, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy brought up the subject again by asking if “this a situation where Dr. O’Connor does not want to come and talk about the President’s health or where the President doesn’t want Dr. O’Connor talking about his health?” 

In response, Jha claimed he’s “spoken both to the President and to Dr. O’Connor on an ongoing basis and neither of them has expressed a preference. At no point has Dr. O’Connor said he didn’t want O’Connor to visit, and President Trump has never said he does not want O’Connor visiting. So, I would say neither of those is correct.” 

Proving once again that he’s one of the best reporters in the briefing room, Doocy went after Biden’s photo ops taken during his time in quarantine: 

DOOCY: OK, you stated again that the President follows the CDC guidelines quickly. The photo of the president appears to have been taken by others in his residence, with no mask. When I looked at the COVID guidelines, there are no carveouts. Are he following the CDC guidelines? 

JHA: Yeah, so, if you— so a couple of things. What’s really important is anybody who has interacted with the President, and it has been a much smaller footprint, has been socially distanced as much as possible. They’ve all been wearing N95s, and whenever possible we have done this outside, with windows open. 

DOOCY: Isn’t the guidance for the person with COVID to be wearing the n95 when there are people around as well? 

JHA: So, look Peter, I think if you think about the President he does generally wear a mask when he’s around other people. He sometimes takes the mask off when he’s getting a photo taken. He’s been—most of his interactions with others he has been wearing a mask. His overall health is good. He is boosting his immunity and has followed the CDC’s guidelines.

Last but not least, there was this moment from the briefing which was, let’s just say bizarre:

REPORTER: “I wanted to go back to Monkeypox and ask what the government’s response is to some of the backlash regarding the messaging & language that could perpetuate homophobia and transphobia like we saw during the HIV epidemic.” pic.twitter.com/ifQhQGrgRz

— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) July 25, 2022

You can click the “expand” button to see the pertinent transcript of White House’s July 25 press briefing. 

White House Press Briefing 
July 25, 2022
Eastern, 4:53:27 [via C-SPAN]

STEVEN PORTNOY: One of the questions has been asked and we’ll have to raise it again. What is the reason that President Trump’s personal physician isn’t present? Is there a reason why? Are you familiar with a reason?    

DOCTOR ASHISH JHA: KJP, I don’t know if you want to start it. I’m happy to give my thoughts. Are you asking me to give my thoughts only?   

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Why don’t you start in, I’ll come in. 

JHA: Yeah, so look. You’ve heard every day from the President’s physician through his detailed accounting of his assessment, his plan. His personal physician has been a constant contact. Every day, I have a long conversation with him. I am able to communicate with the President every day. And the bottom line is the President has had thankfully because he has double vaccinated and double boosted, he’s had relatively a mild upper respiratory infection. We have been able to provide extraordinary transparency regarding his treatment when he was positive. How he’s done each day. The changing nature of his symptoms. Are his symptoms getting worse? Or better? As we were very transparent and open with all that information. 

What I can do, however is to provide a broader perspective on how the President’s health should be considered in light of our wider COVID response. The President’s doctor, I believe has spoken very clearly. You have received his correspondence every day. — Every single day. 

PORTNOY, I beg to differ. There is a history here in this room of President’s physicians standing here to take questions, and in part, it’s because some of your colleagues in the medical profession do have questions and they’ve asked us to ask those questions about why the President’s doctor ordered him to stop taking Crestor & Eliquis. You have done your best to communicate the answer that the President’s physician has given. But are you familiar with the reason why the President decided not to send his doctor out to answer questions? 

[…]

PETER DOOCY: In order to follow up on the absence of Dr. O’Connor, does this indicate that Dr. O’Connor is not interested in coming and discussing the President’s health concerns or the President prefers Dr. O’Connor speaking about his own health issues?

JHA: Let me tell you that I’ve spoken to both the President and Dr. O’Connor regularly and they have not expressed any preference. The President and Dr. O’Connor have never said they don’t wish to meet, while the President at no time has said he does not want Dr. O’Connor there. Therefore, neither of them is right. 

DOOCY. Ok, you stated again that the President follows the CDC guidelines quickly. The photo of the president appears to have been taken by others in his residence, with no mask. As I was reading the guidelines for COVID positive people, I didn’t find any mention of such carveouts. Are he following the CDC guidelines? 

JHA: Yeah, so, if you— so a couple of things. What’s really important is anybody who has interacted with the President, and it has been a much smaller footprint, has been socially distanced as much as possible. They’ve all been wearing N95s, and whenever possible we have done this outside, with windows open. 

DOOCY: Isn’t the guidance for the person with COVID to be wearing the n95 when there are people around as well? 

JHA: So, look Peter, I think if you think about the President he does generally wear a mask when he’s around other people. He sometimes takes the mask off when he’s getting a photo taken. He’s been—most of his interactions with others he has been wearing a mask. He has ensured that everyone around him is vaccinated, boosted and follows all CDC recommendations. 

[…]

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER : I’m sorry, but I was curious about the government’s reaction to the backlash over the messages that could encourage homophobia or transphobia as we witnessed during the HIV epidemic. 

JHA: Is there anything you’re concerned about? It is clear to me that LGBTQ people are the most affected. That is why they have been so engaged, not only to share information but also to learn more and make sure everybody communicates in a scientifically correct, respectful way. You know, obviously, it’s really important that we do not use this moment to propagate homophobic or trans-phobic messaging, and I think it is really important that we stick to the science, stick to the evidence, and do it in a way that’s respectful of people.