CNN’s John Berman Pushes Biden Covid Chief: Why Can’t We Talk to His Doctor?
CNN anchor John Berman pressed White House Covid chief Dr. Ashish Jha to explain why President Joe Biden‘s doctor hasn’t spoken directly to the press.
Since the news broke that Biden tested positive for Covid-19 Thursday morning, the story has drawn intense interest from the political media. Dr. Jha updated reporters at a briefing within hours of the news, and White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor released a detailed letter on the president’s condition. But O’Connor himself did not address the press.
On Friday morning’s edition of CNN’s New Day, Berman spoke with Dr. Jha to get an update on the president’s condition.
Jha told Berman that as of 10 p.m. Thursday night, Biden was experiencing “the same symptoms, about the same level of mildness,” and added “But I’ll check in with them this morning. I’ll check in with him this morning and I’ll be happy to report back.”
Berman took that cue to press Jha about access to Dr. O’Connor, and Dr. Jha responded with a lengthy list of other White House personnel who have been or will be made available:
JOHN BERMAN: It’s wonderful to hear from you doctors as always, on this. But why can’t we check in with the president’s doctors? The White House doctor often briefs the press and briefs brief the public when there is an issue with the president’s health. Why have not we heard from them?
DR. JHA: Well, I think you have heard Dr. O’Connor is his personal physician. You have heard from Dr. O’Connor in the letter. We are fully committed to transparency here. You’re going to hear every day from Dr. O’Connor through written communication. He’s going to put out his own statement with his assessment of how the president is doing. And the second part is, you know, we’re all in pretty constant contact speaking to each other. I’ll be speaking to the president every day. That combination means that the American people will have a very full, complete picture of how the president is doing.
JOHN BERMAN: But no plans to make him available to the press or the public as of now.
DR. JHA: You know, Dr. O’Connor is going to be sharing his information. I will be out there. I think you’re going to hear from a variety of administration officials about the president, but obviously the clinical physicians, me, Dr. Fauci, you’ll hear from, who’s also been in touch with the White House. So I think you’re going to hear from a variety of us.
When former President Donald Trump contracted Covid, his medical team held press conferences — at which they told what turned out to be verifiable lies about Trump’s condition.
Watch above via CNN.
