A former White House physician blasted President Biden’s press secretary on Tuesday for refusing to divulge more information about a Parkinson’s specialist repeatedly visiting the White House.
A top neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Dr. Kevin Cannard, met with Biden's physician at the White House earlier this year, White House records show, adding fuel to the fire of America’s national conversation about Biden’s mental acuity. Since then, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has fielded a barrage of questions, and while she denied the president has Parkinson’s, she repeatedly cited "security reasons" and "privacy" for why she must withhold some information.
"Outnumbered" host Kayleigh McEnany asked guest Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, whether there are any legitimate "security reasons" to not discuss public records.
"Absolutely not, Kayleigh," Jackson, who was White House physician for Presidents Obama and Trump, said. "That's a ridiculous excuse, and you know, the whole world can see right through it… We know that Dr. Cannard came to the residence medical clinic at the bidding of Dr. Kevin O'Connor, who is the president's physician. That's what we know. What we don't know is who he saw there."
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He then made a key distinction between two nearby clinics, one of which is separate from the White House. Jackson said that Dr. Cannard specifically visited the residence clinic, the one which is "on the ground floor of the White House, directly below the president’s bedroom, and it’s reserved for care of the first family. So if he was seen there, and if Dr. O'Connor summoned him to be seen there, our question is, who was he seeing there? Was he seeing the president?"
Jackson again rejected Jean-Pierre’s claims about "security" and "patient privacy," arguing the White House could easily be more transparent.
"If you saw someone besides the president, just tell us that, OK?" he said. "Have Dr. O'Connor come down to the podium and say that. But the question is, did he or did he not see the president? Because he is a neurologist who specializes in Parkinson's disease and movement disorders."
PARKINSON'S DISEASE SPECIALIST MET WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN PHYSICIAN IN WHITE HOUSE
"The sad truth is, the whole world knows that there's something wrong with this president. He's broken, right?" he added. "And maybe it's not Parkinson's. He said it's not Parkinson's, but it's very Parkinson's-like, it's some other type of movement disorder and some other serious cognitive issue. We need to know what's going on. We need to know what he's being treated for."
"We need to know that that happened, and we need to know why that happened. This is not a privacy issue anymore. This is our commander in chief. This is a national security issue. And if this man is not leading our country and he's not capable of doing so, the world and the country needs to know that."
In a letter released Monday night, O'Connor said Cannard was chosen for Biden's annual physicals "not because he is a movement disorder specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist here at Walter Reed and across the Military Health System, with a very wide expertise which makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems."
The president did not see a neurologist outside his annual physicals, the letter stated.
Fox News' Landon Mion contributed to this report.
