Peter Baker Argues Joe Biden Is Unfit because Peter Baker Is Too Lazy to Read the Homework

/60 Comments/in /by

The NYT and ABC have now joined the insane mob tying the White House visits of a neurologist who has written papers on topics that include Parkinson’s, Dr. Kevin Cannard, to their wild brays that Joe Biden is unfit to stay in the race.

The NYT version is particularly remarkable, because Peter Baker, along with NYT’s health care correspondent, Emily Baumgaertner, describe Dr. Cannard’s specialty as “movement disorder specialist.”

The expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, is a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders and recently published a paper on Parkinson’s. The logs, released by the White House, document visits from July 2023 through March of this year. More recent visits, if there have been any, would not be released until later under the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy.

And they link the report from Biden’s physical earlier this year, which they then quote, describing that after “an extremely detailed neurologic exam,” doctors like Cannard and White House physician Kevin O’Connor determined that Biden did not have Parkinsons.

That means they had all the tools they needed, aside from some basic reading comprehension, I guess, to discover that elsewhere in the same report they linked, under the heading that included “neurology,” O’Connor described adding a movement disorder neurologic specialist — someone just like Dr. Cannard!!! — to advise him on Biden’s gait problems.

In November 2021, O’Connor added a movement disorder neurologic specialist to Biden’s healthcare team, and these crack NYT journalists have decided that the evidence in front of them suggests Parkinson’s.

Remember, they’re supposed to be engaged in this mob out of a belief that Biden is not fit for his job.

Yet over and over, participants in this mob rush to provide evidence that the fitness problems lie elsewhere.

Update: O’Connor has now written a letter confirming that the only times Cannard has met with the President were in conjunction with his yearly physical.

As I have written in each of the President’s medical reports, as part of the President’s annual physical, he sees a team of specialists that have included Optometry, Dentistry, Orthopedics (Foot and Ankle), Orthopedics (Spine), Physical Therapy, Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Cardiology, Radiology, and Dermatology. Dr. Cannard was the neurological specialist that examined President Biden for each of his annual physicals. His findings have been made public each time I have released the results of the President’s annual physical. President Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical.

Cannard is, as O’Connor describes, someone with a long background in general neurology before he did a movement disorders fellowship, and much of what he appears at the White House to treat are other neurological problems of military personnel tied to their service.

Dr. Cannard has been the Neurology Consultant to the White House Medical Unit since 2012. He was chosen for his breadth of experience and expertise across the specialty of Neurology. Prior to his Movement Disorders fellowship at Emory University, he had practiced as a general neurologist for six years. He is the longest serving Neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and in the Military Healthcare System. He has been a member of the faculty at the Uniformed Services University’s medical school since 1991 and is core faculty of the Neurology Residency Program. He has numerous local and national teaching awards, and is highly regarded for his clinical skills. These qualities make him a valued and versatile consultant to assess and treat a wide variety of conditions. Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, he has held regular Neurology Clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations. Many military personnel experience neurological issues related to their service, and Dr. Cannard regularly visits the WHMU as part of this General Neurology practice.

60 replies
  1. Badger Robert says:

    Again and again the USA has demonstrated the Presidential fitness is irrelevant. People smarter than I could list all the instances. The only problem people have with Joe’s health is that Harris is 200% qualified to take over in a moment.

    • President Mike Johnson-CHANGE-REQD says:

      Think about that one. Joe resigns, and Mike is one step closer to the presidency. Something happens to Kamala? Trumpies will go after her in a heartbeat. Kamala’s choice for VP will never pass Congress. Position is open until Jan. 20. Stay the course, Joe.

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      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        The Speaker comes one step closer to the presidency, if the VP becomes president.

        Trumpies are already going after Kamala Harris. Nothing new.

        But, yes, naming a new VP requires the approval of a majority in both houses of Congress. Hard to get on any subject, let alone naming a new VP.

  3. Dark Phoenix says:

    What a time for Peter Baker to jump into this mess. Donald Trump just named him Public Enemy #1 in MAGA land, so I guess he felt the need to show Donald he’s on his side, not Joe’s…

    • Jett_29SEP2022_1228h says:

      Interestingly, Peter’s wife Susan Glasser was on MSNBC yesterday morning essentially shilling for the Democratic bed-wetters too. And Max Rose skewered her for it.

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  4. Dark Phoenix says:

    Also, someone REALLY needs to grab the White House secretary and tell her “If you don’t know the answer to a question, SAY SO! Stop giving answers to questions you don’t actually know the answers to, because in the last week you’ve fed into this feeding frenzy by speculating before you even got the answer, and now they keep pointing to you and saying the rest of us are lying!”

    Last week, she said she didn’t think Pres. Biden had seen a doctor, and when it came out that he had, the press used that as “proof” the White House was lying about the President’s health.
    Today, she came out and said that no neurologist has seen President Biden, despite ALL OF THIS, and CNN is already using this as “proof” the White House ls lying.

  5. earlofhuntingdon says:

    I could easily believe Peter Baker is lazy about challenging his own preconceived notions, and, therefore, unwilling to do the homework that would disprove them in this case. But it’s hard not to wonder how much of this is Sulzberger and Kahn insisting on a narrative, facts be damned.

    • harpie says:

      […] Jackson — who has never treated Biden — claimed the president’s doctor, along with the First Family, is trying to “cover-up” the diminishing cognitive health of the president, who on July 4 made several odd gaffes and misstatements at holiday festivities at the White House.

      “I believe he and Jill Biden have led the cover up. Kevin O’Connor is like a son to Jill Biden — she loves him. It’s crazy. Kevin O’Connor was in that job on day one of the Biden administration because they knew they could trust Kevin to say and do anything that needed to be said or done and cover up whatever needed to be covered up. He is part of the Biden family,” Jackson said.

      Jackson has for years warned that Biden’s mental health has been declining. […]

      • hollywood says:

        Jackson must be hoping to be an admiral again.

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      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Was Ronny Jackson sober when he wrote that, or was he awake?

        Yes, the NYP first broke that story with the false and partisan framing. It’s been repeated ad nauseam by the MSM, without being checked out. Pretty much defines a feeding frenzy.

        • harpie says:

          Yep. Hacks.

          And now [as Marcy reposted] @nycsouthpaw is wondering about at least one date:

          https://bsky.app/profile/nycsouthpaw.bsky.social/post/3kwscfffugt24
          Jul 8, 2024 at 4:16 PM

          […] It seems to me the NYT (and WH Press for that matter) should have cross-referenced the dates of Dr. Cannard’s visits w/ the president’s schedule. On the second of the supposed 8 dates, 8/25/23, Biden wasn’t at the WH for any of that day. He was at Tom Steyer’s place in Tahoe that whole week.

        • c-i-v-i-l says:

          Reply to harpie
          July 8, 2024 at 4:56 pm

          And der Siebenschläfer also notes:

          The NYT Parkinson’s “scoop” is even worse than it seems from the headline, bc buried in paragraph 11 the reporters *know* Dr. Connard met with someone other than Biden, and on March 28, 2024 the President’s Public Schedule shows Biden was in NYC the whole day
          … during Dr. Cannard’s Nov. 17, 2023 WH visit, Biden started the day in SFo and in the evening flew to Philadelphia
          … During Dr. Cannard’s August 25, 2023 WH visit, Biden was in Lake Tahoe and Glenbrook, Nevada the whole day
          … During Dr. Cannard’s July 28, 2023 WH visit, Biden’s schedule shows he received the daily briefing at 9:00, then spoke to the press, then immediately when to Joint Base Andrews and flew to Brunswick, Maine, held some events, then flew to Delaware

          https://bsky.app/profile/sababausa.bsky.social/post/3kwsapu7j6t2n

          “… Dr. Cannard met with someone called Joshua Simmons, and there appears to have been scant effort to figure out who he is”
          [screenshot]
          https://bsky.app/profile/sababausa.bsky.social/post/3kwscvtbroa2k

      • Spocko says:

        It would be swell if Peter Baker & the gang looked into Trump’s health.
        I love how Dr. Ronny Jackson projected onto O’Connor his own behavior “say and do anything that needed to be said or done and cover up whatever needed to be covered up.”

        Seriously, as @JaneMayerNYer said “Falling asleep on trial requires a medical exam from an independent doctor.”
        Also, fecal incontinence can be a sign of a serious medical problem, but they’ll make a joke of it because to acknowledge it would be to talk about his drug use.
        So they’ll just rely on a vague 3 paragraph letter from Trump’s golf buddy, Dr. Bruce Aronwald O.D. from Nov 2023.

      • P J Evans says:

        Jackson has never said anythign truthful about Donnie’s health, starting with his ridiculous claims about his height and weight.
        He shouldn’t even talk about Biden, who is is far better shape than Donnie.

        • Rayne says:

          I sure wish my spouse had Biden’s health stats and my spouse is 14 years younger than Biden.

          I don’t know what’s keeping that orange-tinted zombie moving except pure animus.

  7. Swamp Thing says:

    Can’t we just start saying that Trump should drop out? We have much better reasons for saying that than they do.

  8. EatenByGrues says:

    Another line of attack is that Biden’s personal (primary care) physician is an osteopath… despite the fact that DOs receive almost exactly the same training as MDs in the United States, including screening for common neurological conditions like Parkinson’s Disease, and have the same legal privileges of diagnosis, prescription, surgery, etc. Chiropractors they are not.

    But “Biden’s doctor is an unqualified quack” seems to be a common argument in some circles.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      “Biden’s doctor” is a team, as is any competent presidency.

      But his primary doctor could be head of Harvard Medical School and Republicans and the lamestream press would still call her a quack. Look what they did – and still do – to Anthony Fauci.

    • P J Evans says:

      My current primary-care provider is a DO. I haven’t seen signs of incompetence. (The previous one was an MD and DPharm.)

  9. ExRacerX says:

    As familiar as the phenomenon of compulsive projection on the part of Trump and his cronies has become, with the hue and cry for Biden to step down increasing to a fever pitch, I’m starting to suspect Trump must be hiding a serious physical and/or mental health issue.

    Just a hunch based upon past behavior, of course.

    • Natty Bumpo says:

      The Supreme Court granted Trump immunity. He really doesn’t have as much urgency to win the election.

    • ButteredToast says:

      Trump is hardly hiding it; he showcases his mental health issues every time he opens his mouth. It’s just that the press and enough of the public shrug it off because “he’s always like that”/”that’s just Trump being Trump”/”he’s joking,” etc.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        The problem with reduced cognition is that you often don’t know you’re “showcasing” your dementia. But, yes, the press’s biggest players are giving Trump a pass. Again.

  10. Thomas A Fine says:

    It is perhaps notable that Peter Baker was chasing Parkinson’s since 7/2 when an article he cowrote specifically singled out Parkinson’s in a long list of things that his health report said he didn’t have. It also makes it clear that NYT asked the white house at that time for comment on Parkinson’s specifically, among all the other things that the health report says he doesn’t have.

    Which means several things:
    • Baker is perfectly aware of the health report. It’s where he started from.
    • NYT has had ample opportunity to find the many doctors who will say that the lack of any hand tremor in videos of him signing bills (like, I don’t know, maybe the recent Parkinson’s bill?) tensd to rule out PD.
    • NYT is fixated on PD, and has been for a week, for no apparent reason.

    This all looks so much like a propaganda op. Like Fox News. Or like RT.

    • Thomas A Fine says:

      P.S. they’re pushing a long-standing right-wing troll rumor that originated with Wohl and Burkman.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        And that was nearly four years ago. If he as a neurological disorder, which seems probable, it’s worse now.

        And who the hell makes medical staff sign a non-disclosure form before being allowed to treat them? Staff are already bound by patient confidentiality rules and HIPPA.

      • nord dakota says:

        How does he not tip over? I’ve wondered for awhile. Also his sitting position–hemorrhoid problem?

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Parkinson’s Disease is a name: it makes people afraid, whether they know what it is or not.

      Amity’s mayor, Larry Vaughn, had it right: “Martin, it’s all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, Huh? What? You yell shark, we’ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.” Baker, Sulzberger and Kahn want a panic.

      • John Paul Jones says:

        Yeah, but there really WAS a dangerous sea creature…… ie, not sure the analogy totally works.

        People don’t seem to be aware that while these docs treat Biden, they treat hundreds of other staffers too, and what they are mostly doing is helping to run a mini-hospital for the White House, meaning the number of times a doc “visits” the WH is profoundly irrelevant to Biden’s specific treatments/consults.

  11. Clare Kelly says:

    Speaking of not doing your homework, or worse, Politico’s Whitmer ‘scoop’:

    “ Gretchen Whitmer says she won’t run as nominee even if Biden stands down
    Michigan governor has been named as potential replacement for president but calls discussion a ‘distraction’”,

    [snip]

    “ Politico said its source was “someone close to a potential 2028 Whitmer rival for the Democratic presidential nomination”.

    “Speaking to the AP, Whitmer said: “I think it’s frustrating that there are news outlets that will publish something that a potential future opponent’s staff person would say.”

    Martin Pengelly
    The Guardian
    July 8, 2024
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/08/gretchen-whitmer-biden-democrat-nomination

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Politico publishes a “scoop” about a leading Democratic politician, sourced to an alleged staffer for a possible future Democratic opponent? Reliable as hell. /s Who’s to say the staffer is real or works for a possible Democratic opponent rather than a Republican one.

      I suppose this is what you get when you throw chum in the water during a feeding frenzy.

      • Clare Kelly says:

        Ayup.

        Innuendo as journalism.

        The odds that it was from Gavin Newsom’s staff are ‘Slim to nil’, and Slim left town.

        An aside: Republicans are working up another Gov Newsom recall petition, FF’sS.

        • P J Evans says:

          They should be charged the full costs, starting with the signature verification.
          Because his term ends after the 2026 midterm.

    • Dark Phoenix says:

      Can I shake my head at this quote from the Guardian?

      “Whitmer says she will not do that but her ambitions remain on display.

      As the Guardian revealed last week, her book ends with a passage from Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “Man in the Arena” speech, about the need for leaders to take action.”

      Why do I suspect if they were discussing a male challenger, they wouldn’t have worded it this way…

  12. P J Evans says:

    Rayne says:
    July 8, 2024 at 8:17 pm
    I wish *I* had his health. And I’m several years younger than he is.

  13. Harry Eagar says:

    I remember when the Times’ chief medical reporter, Larry Altman, was an actual medical doctor.

    Those were the days.

  14. PeaceRme says:

    First Biden should not have debated. Same narrative. He treated Trump as legit. There should be no deference given to Trump. Zero. He’s not a legitimate candidate for the USA. Biden the people pleaser codependent was too polite to live in this truth.

    Finally, why has there been no attempt to draw on the shared experiences of all of us who have dealt with this issue. It’s like having kids. The peeps without them think they can do it better. If you have been in this place with a loved one, you know that none of this is black and white. None of it. You know when you know. I didn’t know my mom couldn’t drive despite my dad telling me “she’s fine” and insisting she drive. She damn near killed me twice.

    They were sure she had Alzheimers then two years of testing and no drop in score, then she no longer met criteria. Today she has the same mini stroke and dementia but it has not gotten worse. Parkinson’s takes a while to assess. It’s not fast. There is no blood draw to dx for certain. Medicine is an ART and a science.

    There should be references to this reality. We all who are dealing with it, know all too well the truth. Refer to this. Talk to us and put the younger folks in their place when they are asking for black and white confirmation. It does not work that way. You should not take away the American people’s elected choice unless you are absolutely sure. Just like you don’t remove the rights of the elderly unless you are absolutely sure. Freedom. I remember when a sib of mine argued my mom didn’t have confidentiality in her own counseling session.

    Dems are people pleasers. Find the truth. Facts. Lead with those. Stop this bs of being swayed by opinions instead of being leaders in truth. We can handle the truth.

  16. nord dakota says:

    Slightly off the subject, but speaking of news media. . . after the TV interview, CNN did this fact check of BIden’s claims. THey made a huge deal out of the fact that Trump never said to drink or inject bleach (what mechanism he imagined would be used for a “cleaning”, never mind shine a light down there is a mystery). It annoyed me when the stand up comedians kept saying that back in 2020 because it really wasn’t exactly what he said. I suppose it’s hard to describe the phenomenon of Trump’s essential lack of basic knowledge (like making a magnet lose its magnetism by pouring a glass of water on it) but I think it would have been worth it. And, in any event, a lot of people apparently interpreted him to mean just that.

    It just seemed like CNN was straining to find something warranting a fact check in BIden’s debate performance.

    • Rayne says:

      That was what made Sarah Cooper’s ‘How to Medical‘ routine so damned funny — she used Trump’s own words, his own voice and merely mimed gestures in sync which expressed the degree of incredulity any sane, science-appreciating adult experienced listening to Trump about potential COVID therapies.

      And yes, you’re right, he didn’t say bleach, he said disinfectant. *eye roll*

      CNN’s fact checker you likely saw was Daniel Dale who is damned good and thorough. Can’t really fault him when the problem is how CNN presented the fact check after the debate and not during when they had Dale right there. Had Dale pointed out the erroneous/false statements in real time, I imagine we would have seen a truly angry Trump and a laughing if frustrated Biden. What a pity we didn’t see both candidates side by side with their social filters off.

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