TROUBLING SIGN: White House visitor to Joe Biden raises alarm

Parkinson’s disease expert Dr Kevin Cannard met with the president’s doctor, Dr Kevin O’Connor at the White House residence clinic on January 17, visitor records show according to the New York Post.

The revelation came after Biden, who continues to face concerns over his health, ruled out taking an independent cognitive test and publicly releasing the finding, in a high stakes interview with ABC News on Friday.

According to the New York Post, Dr Cannard, who has worked at the Walter Reed Medical Center for nearly 20 years, attended the 5pm meeting with cardiologist Dr John Atwood and another unidentified individual.

Dr Cannard has served as the “neurology specialist supporting the White House Medical Unit” since 2012, according to his LinkedIn.

Biden had a “verbal check-in” with Dr O’Connor following his disastrous performance during the presidential debate last week. 

“Several days later, the president was seen to check on his cold and was recovering well,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.

Dr O’Connor earlier gave the 81-year-old a clean bill of health during an annual exam in February. 

The exam included a neurological exam which ruled out Parkinson’s disease, Dr O’Connor said at the time.

Biden rules out an independent medical evaluation

The president’s health was addressed during his highly anticipated interview with ABC News with presenter George Stephanopoulos on Friday.

During the interview, Biden was asked if he has undertaken a specialised cognitive test and an exam by a neurologist.

“No, no one said I had to,” said Biden. 

“They said I’m good.”

Mr Stephanopoulos questioned if Biden would be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation, including neurological and cognitive tests, and publicly release the results.

“Look, I have a cognitive test every single day, every day I have that test, everything I do,” Biden replied.

“Not only on my campaign, but I’m running the world.”

When pressed if he would be willing to undertake an independent medical evaluation right now, the president replied: “Well, I’ve already done it.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Biden shared he was suffering from a bad cold during last week’s presidential debate with Donald Trump. 

“I was feeling terrible,” he explained.

“As a matter of fact, the docs with me I asked if they did a Covid test, they were trying to figure out what’s wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.”

The 81-year-old admitted he had a “bad night” and took full responsibility.

“The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine,” he said.

“Was this a bad episode or the sign of a more serious condition?” Mr Stephanopoulos asked.

“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing, and I had a bad night,” said Biden.

Internal dissent 

Five sitting Democratic elected officials have now called on Biden to step aside, and a number of key donors have threatened to cut off funding if he insists on staying the course.

“I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump,” Angie Craig, the latest House Democrat to break ranks, said Saturday.

The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has scheduled a virtual meeting of senior Democrat representatives for Sunday to discuss the best way forward, and Democrat Senator Mark Warner is reportedly working to convene a similar forum in the upper chamber.

Biden’s campaign team is pushing ahead regardless, with an event planned in Pennsylvania on Sunday and visits to other battleground states later in the month

– With AFP