Reporters Repeatedly Ask Why Biden’s Personal Physician Won’t Brief the Press on His COVID — KJP and Jha Cannot Explain

On 7/26/2022, multiple reporters pressed KJP and COVID coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha on why Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, was not briefing the press on the president’s COVID diagnosis — breaking with the precedent set by every recent president. KJP could not provide a reason, saying neither Biden nor O’Connor had “expressed a preference” against it. Reporters also caught Biden removing his mask for photos while COVID-positive, contradicting CDC guidelines.

”Why Isn’t the President’s Doctor Here?”

The question came from multiple reporters in multiple ways. “Are you familiar with the reason that the President decided not to send his physician here to answer our questions the way that his predecessors have sent their physicians?” a reporter asked.

KJP deferred to Dr. Jha. “You’ve heard every day from the President’s physician through his detailed accounting. I speak to him every single day,” KJP said.

“Forgive me — there’s a history in this room of the President’s physician standing here to take questions,” the reporter pressed. “Some of your colleagues in the medical profession have questions. They’ve asked us to ask about why the President’s doctor ordered him to stop taking certain medications.”

“You’ve been hearing from the President’s physician through letters. You’re hearing from me. That is a lot of information,” KJP said.

Neither Said No — But Neither Came

A reporter tried a different angle. “Is this a situation where Dr. O’Connor does not want to come, or where the President doesn’t want Dr. O’Connor talking about his health?”

“I have spoken to both the President and Dr. O’Connor on an ongoing basis. Neither of them has expressed a preference. Dr. O’Connor has not at any point said he doesn’t want to come. The President has not said he does not want Dr. O’Connor to come,” KJP said.

“So there is no resistance to doing that,” Dr. Jha confirmed.

The logical follow-up was obvious: if neither objected, why wasn’t he there? Neither KJP nor Jha provided an answer.

”We’re in a Different Place”

Dr. Jha attempted a broader justification. “We are in a different place. This is not 21, 22 months ago. This is not even a year and a half ago,” Jha said. He cited vaccines and treatments as reasons the situation was less serious.

A reporter pressed on future appearances. “Do you foresee a circumstance where the person who treats the Commander-in-Chief will ever come to this podium?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” KJP said. “What I’m saying is that we are in a different place with COVID.”

“Under what circumstances would he come out?” the reporter asked.

KJP pointed to Biden’s November physical report. “The doctor — there was no doctor that came out to the podium and took questions, right? We put that out, and we took questions in the briefing room,” she said — essentially arguing that written reports were sufficient.

Mask Off for Photos While COVID-Positive

Doocy caught a contradiction. “You said the President is following CDC guidelines very strictly. But there are people in the residence taking his photo with no mask on. I was looking at the guidance for COVID-positive people. I don’t see any carve-outs for something like that,” Doocy said.

“The President does generally wear a mask when he’s around other people. He sometimes takes the mask off when he’s getting a photo taken,” KJP said. “Everybody around him is fully vaccinated and boosted.”

“Isn’t it the guidance for the person with COVID to be wearing an N95 when there are people around as well?” Doocy pressed.

KJP acknowledged Biden removed his mask for photos but insisted he was “following CDC guidelines very carefully” — despite the guidelines making no exception for photographs.

The Transparency Gap

The refusal to produce Biden’s physician stood in sharp contrast to prior administrations. Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, had briefed the press in person during Trump’s COVID hospitalization. Obama’s and Bush’s physicians had appeared at the podium for health updates. The Biden White House’s insistence on communicating only through written letters and a COVID coordinator rather than the treating physician raised questions about what was being withheld.

Medical journalists had submitted specific questions about Biden’s medications and treatment decisions that could only be answered by the physician making those decisions — not by a press secretary or a policy coordinator.

Key Takeaways

Multiple reporters asked why Biden’s personal physician would not brief the press on his COVID diagnosis — breaking with every recent presidential precedent.
KJP said neither Biden nor Dr. O’Connor had “expressed a preference” against appearing — but could not explain why the doctor wasn’t there.
Dr. Jha said “we’re in a different place” with COVID — but the question was about transparency, not severity.
Biden was photographed removing his mask while COVID-positive for photos; KJP said he “sometimes takes the mask off” but was following guidelines “very carefully.”
The White House communicated only through written letters and the COVID coordinator rather than producing the treating physician.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

Why isn’t the President’s personal physician here? You’ve heard from him through his letters every day. That is a lot of information.
Has Dr. O’Connor said he doesn’t want to come? Neither has expressed a preference. There is no resistance.
There’s a history in this room of the President’s physician standing here. Some medical colleagues have questions we’ve been asked to ask.
He sometimes takes the mask off when getting a photo taken. Isn’t the guidance for the COVID-positive person to wear N95?
We are in a different place. This is not 21 months ago.
Do you foresee a circumstance where the President’s doctor will come to this podium? That’s not what I’m saying.

Full transcript: 1001 words transcribed via Whisper AI.