Biden hasn't seen neurologist outside annual physicals, White House doctor says in letter addressing Parkinson's expert visits

President Joe Biden has not seen a neurologist outside his annual physicals, White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a letter released Monday night addressing visits to the White House by a Parkinson’s disease expert.

The visits by the expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, had raised questions that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had left largely unanswered earlier in the day. Biden has been on the defensive trying to reassure Americans and Democratic lawmakers that he can run and win after a poor debate performance last month.

NBC News earlier confirmed reporting from the New York Postthat said a Parkinson’s expert from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House at least eight times in eight months, according to public visitor logs.

O’Connor's letter detailed Cannard’s background as a neurology specialist and noted that he has been the neurology consultant to the White House Medical Unit since 2012. Cannard was the one who examined Biden for each of his annual physicals, including the most recent one in February, O’Connor wrote.

Before the Covid pandemic, the letter said, Cannard held regular neurology clinics at the White House medical clinic for the thousands of active-duty military members assigned to support White House operations.

“Seeing patients at the White House is something that Dr. Cannard has been doing for a dozen years,” O’Connor wrote. “Dr. Cannard was chosen for this responsibility not because he is a movement disorder specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist here at Walter Reed and across the Military Health System, with a very wide expertise which makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems.”

Jean-Pierre said at a