During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about President Biden’s medical exams and his view of Vice President Kamala Harris.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Go ahead, MJ.
00:01Thank you.
00:02Great.
00:03I just wanted to clarify one thing.
00:04I know you got a lot of questions about this issue yesterday.
00:05Sure.
00:06Sure.
00:07Has the President had any medical exams since his last annual physical in February?
00:11And we were able to talk to his doctor about that, and that is a no.
00:16He hasn't had any kind of medical exam?
00:19No.
00:20So the White House has said no to releasing the full results of that annual, said no to
00:26making Dr. O'Connor available for questions from us, no to releasing any other information
00:32that would shed some more light on the President's health.
00:35I guess I'm just wondering if now is not the time for full transparency, when is?
00:43So I would say, MJ, to your question, that what we have released over the past three
00:48years, every year since he's been in office, has been transparent and it has been comprehensive.
00:55It has been one of the most transparent, we have been one of the most transparent administration
00:59when it comes to medical records.
01:01That is what we've been able to do.
01:06And I would add that it is not the norm to bring the doctor to the podium.
01:15That is not the norm.
01:17And we have owned up, this President directly has owned up to what happened at the debate
01:25last Thursday.
01:26He's talked about it multiple times, and directly to supporters, directly to the American people.
01:34And what we want to do is continue to certainly deliver on the record accomplishments that
01:41we've been able to do.
01:42I understand that you feel like the White House has been thorough in the medical records
01:47that you all have released, but obviously you're getting these questions in large part
01:51because of what we saw for 90 minutes on Thursday night and people's responses to what
01:57they saw, right?
01:58A lot of people expressing shock.
02:00So why not release more information?
02:03What would be the downside?
02:05Look, what I can tell you is that we have been transparent, we'll continue to be transparent,
02:11and that's what I can share with all of you at this time.
02:14And I did want to follow up on what Sung Min brought up, I think others as well.
02:18You did get numerous questions yesterday about the President's debate performance.
02:23You didn't mention travel, the jet lag, the foreign trip.
02:27So I think you can understand why it was a little bit puzzling to hear the President
02:32mentioning that as his explanation for the first time last night.
02:36Can you clarify whether, when you took the podium yesterday, did you not know that that
02:40was a major factor?
02:41That is my bad.
02:42That is part of – that is part of – definitely part of the explanation of what had occurred.
02:50I did know that.
02:51I did know that.
02:52You did know that.
02:53I did.
02:54I did know that.
02:55But we were so focused – I was so focused on the cold, and that's what I kind of leaned
02:58into and talked about.
03:00But yes, his schedule did have something to do with it.
03:02It was the schedule and the cold.
03:04And I did – I was aware of that yesterday.
03:06Can I just ask one other broader question?
03:07Yeah, sure.
03:09The President – and I know you will remember this – back in 2020 referred to himself
03:13as a transition candidate.
03:15He also said back then that he would be a bridge to the next generation of Democratic
03:19leaders.
03:20Does he still believe that?
03:21Yes.
03:22I mean, I think his statement stands.
03:24I mean, one of the reasons why he picked the Vice President, President Kamala Harris, is
03:29because she is indeed the future of the party.
03:33And he's very proud to have partnered with her and continue to partner with her in delivering
03:37an unprecedented record for the American people.
03:40And I think he's going to continue, certainly, to do that.
03:43They're going to do that as partners.
03:44Like I said, I just saw them before walking into the briefing room.
03:48They stopped by to talk to me and my team, and they're ready to go.
03:51They're ready to continue.
03:52So the transition would happen in eight years, and he's not going to be –
03:56I mean, I'm not going to – or I'm not going to get into speculation from here.
04:01But you asked me if that – his remarks and statement still stands.
04:04Yes, it still does.
04:05Thank you.
04:06Thank you, Michael.