Doctors And Media Torch Second Evasive Briefing On Trump’s COVID Condition

Sean Conley(L), Physician to US President Donald Trump, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows listen while an update on the President's health as he is treated for a COVID-19 infection at Walter Reed Medical Ce... Sean Conley(L), Physician to US President Donald Trump, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows listen while an update on the President's health as he is treated for a COVID-19 infection at Walter Reed Medical Center October 4, 2020, in Bethesda, Maryland. - US President Donald Trump has "continued to improve" as he is treated for Covid-19, his doctors said October 4, 2020, revealing he could be discharged as early as October 5, 2020. His medical team said his oxygen levels had dropped twice briefly in recent days and he is being treated with steroids, but they gave an upbeat assessment of the 74-year-old president's health and outlook. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Doctors and members of the press were quick to express their dissatisfaction with White House physician Dr. Sean Conley as they reacted to a briefing outside of Walter Reed on Sunday morning, which left many questions unanswered after an evasive briefing the day before.

During the briefing on Sunday, Dr. Brian Garibaldi of Johns Hopkins University said that the President could be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday, despite how Trump experienced at least two concerning drops in oxygen levels over the weekend.

“If he continues to look and feel as well as he does today, our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow to the White House where he can continue his treatment course,” Garibaldi said.

Adding to the Trump administration’s ongoing mixed messaging on the President’s health, Conley said that he had omitted revealing Trump’s significant drops in oxygen levels during a briefing the day before because he wanted to “reflect the upbeat attitude” of Trump’s medical team and the President himself. Conley added that he tried not “to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction.”

Although Conley acknowledged that his evasive answers “came off that we were trying to hide something,” he quickly argued that “wasn’t necessarily true” and that the President is “doing really well.”

Conley also declined to go into detail about whether X-rays or CT scans have shown that the President is suffering from lung damage as a result of contracting COVID-19.

“There’s some expected findings, but nothing of any major clinical concern,” Conley said, without clarifying what the so-called “expected findings” entail.

Here’s how doctors and members of the press weighed in on Sunday’s befuddling briefing by Trump’s medical team:

Notable Replies

  1. Offhand, I’d say that they tried to give him Truth Serum and it was rejected with a shutter. Then they tried it on themselves and the needle broke.

  2. That says it all. Conley and the rest are the incompetent lackeys of the Keystone Cops.

  3. Conley is not an MD. He is an OD, an osteopath. Make of that what you will.

  4. Ah, then the ole bone spurs must be acting up, again…

  5. In-fucking-credible. With lying morons like this guy in charge, I lay odds that Trump is dead within two weeks.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

216 more replies

Participants

Avatar for heart Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for sandyh Avatar for sniffit Avatar for thebigragu Avatar for serendipitoussomnambulist Avatar for dickweed Avatar for califdemdreamer Avatar for pshah Avatar for docd Avatar for Anarchy_Bunker Avatar for lisaaug Avatar for brian512 Avatar for not_so_fluffy Avatar for moniker Avatar for agnesbee Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for alanonguitar Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for mtw Avatar for rucleare Avatar for randome Avatar for anon84323658 Avatar for kovie

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: