President Joe Biden appeared to contradict his press secretary on Wednesday when he reportedly told a group of Democratic governors that he had a “brief check” with a medical doctor after last Thursday’s debate against former President Donald Trump. The president’s press secretary had previously confirmed that Biden had not received any kind of medical exam since his annual physical.
Three individuals with knowledge of the president’s private meeting with over 20 Democratic governors on Wednesday told Politico that he received an examination by a medical doctor following last Thursday’s debate and that he had been medically cleared by the doctor. According to The Daily Wire, Biden’s private meeting with Democratic leaders came amid increasing concerns regarding the president’s re-election campaign in the aftermath of his debate against Trump.
During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told MJ Lee, a CNN senior White House correspondent, that the president had not received “any kind of medical exam” since his February physical.
“We were able to talk to his doctor about that, and that is a no,” Jeane-Pierre told reporters.
READ MORE: Biden’s debate performance blamed on ‘a cold’
Asked again by Lee whether Biden had received “any kind of medical exam,” the press secretary said, “No.”
In addition to Biden’s contradiction of Jeane-PierreWhite House spokesman Andrew Bates seemingly contradicted Jeane-Pierre’s answer again on Thursday, claiming, “Biden was examined by his doctor in the days following last week’s debate ‘to check on his cold and was recovering well.'”
In response to the White House’s contradicting statements, Lee tweeted, “A White House official adds when Biden was seen by his doctor after the debate, it was a ‘brief check,’ not a physical. My question yesterday was not whether he had gotten another physical.”
According to NBC News, Biden seemingly acknowledged his disastrous debate performance during an interview with a Wisconsin radio station on Wednesday.
In an interview that aired Wednesday on a Wisconsin radio station, the president acknowledged that he “screwed up” his debate performance but urged voters to focus on what he has done during his time in the White House.
“I had a bad night, I had a bad night,” Biden said. “And the fact of the matter is … I screwed up, I made a mistake.”
However, while the president admitted he “screwed up” last Thursday’s debate performance, he encouraged voters to still support him based on the past three and a half years of his first term in office.
“I didn’t have a good debate. That’s 90 minutes on stage,” Biden added. “Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years. I led the economy back from the brink of collapse.”
