The ever-shifting White House explanation for President Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week took another turn Thursday, with administration officials now insisting that Mr. Biden saw his doctor in the days after the debate.
The White House initially blamed Mr. Biden’s halting, incoherent answers on a lingering cold he caught while traveling to Europe twice last month.
Spokesman Andrew Bates said Mr. Biden, 81, was examined by his physician, just hours after the White House said he had not seen a doctor.
“Several days later, the president was seen to check on his cold and was recovering well,” Mr. Bates told CNN.
The claim that Mr. Biden was checked out by his doctor comes after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Mr. Biden hasn’t had any “medical exams” since his February physical.
“We were able to talk to his doctor about that and that is a no,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said in the White House briefing room Wednesday.
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White House officials quickly sought to clear up the discrepancy by saying that when Mr. Biden was seen by his doctor after the debate, it was a “brief check,” not a physical. However, Ms. Jean-Pierre was asked in the briefing room if the president was examined by a doctor, not if he had another physical.
When Ms. Jean-Pierre was pressed on why it had been so long since Mr. Biden had seen a doctor, she responded that “February was this year.”
Mr. Biden also reportedly told more than 20 Democratic governors during a private White House meeting Wednesday night that he had a medical checkup after last week’s debate and is fine, according to Politico.
The discrepancy comes as the White House continues offering ever-shifting explanations for Mr. Biden’s debate performance in Atlanta against former President Donald Trump.
The octogenarian commander-in-chief’s raspy voice and vacant stare during the early portion of the debate sent Democratic voters, donors and party leaders into a panic.
The White House blamed the cold, but the president attended a crowded post-debate debate watch party and then went to an Atlanta Waffle House, where he shook hands and posed for photographs. The next day, he gave a more energized speech in North Carolina.
More than a week later, Mr. Biden told supporters that “jet lag” was the reason for his struggles.
Mr. Biden left for France on June 4 to participate in a ceremony honoring the 80th anniversary of D-Day. He departed France on June 9, returning to Washington.
On June 12, Mr. Biden again left for Europe to participate in the G7 summit in Italy. He arrived back in the U.S. on June 15 to participate in a campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles.
He then spent roughly a week ahead of the debate at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. That means Mr. Biden was in the United States for at least 12 days ahead of the June 27 debate.
Ms. Jean-Pierre sought Wednesday to tie the cold and jet lag explanations together, saying the cold was brought on by the European travel.
“That was my bad,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said, when asked why she waited roughly a week to mention the jet lag.
But in an interview that aired Thursday morning in Milwaukee, Mr. Biden simply said he “screwed up” during the debate, blaming neither the cold nor the jet lag.
“I had a bad night,” Mr. Biden told Milwaukee radio host Earl Ingram. “And the fact of the matter is I screwed up. I made a mistake. But I learned from my father when you get knocked down, just get back up. Get back up. We are going to win this election.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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