A New York-based neurologist who specializes in treating Parkinson’s disease suggested Monday that President Biden is exhibiting “classic features of neurodegeneration” as speculation swirls about his political future.
Dr. Tom Pitts made his assessment based on Biden’s public appearances, while the White House faced questions about why another Parkinson’s expert visited the executive mansion eight times in an eight-month stretch last year and early this year.
“I could have diagnosed him from across the mall,” Pitts told NBC News Now’s “Top Story with Tom Llamas.”
President Biden got a fairly clean bill of health from his doctor, but critics are calling for more information. Getty Images
“I’m a Democrat, it’s just like — this guy is not a hard case,” he added.
“I see him 20 times a day in clinic.”
“He has the classic features of neurodegeneration, word-finding difficulties, and that’s not, ‘Oh, I couldn’t find the word,’ that’s from degeneration of the word retrieval area,” Pitts explained, referring to Biden.
The doctor also noted the president’s “shuffling gait … so little steps. Loss of arm swing from the rigidity…and end-block turning, meaning he kind of pivots around his foot.”
Pitts caveated that he has never been in the “same room” with the president, who has insisted he will carry on with his re-election campaign, and could not judge whether Biden’s cognitive abilities had diminished.
Over the weekend, The Post scooped that Biden physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor met with Dr. Kevin Cannard, the White House medical unit’s neurology consultant, back in January.
A subsequent check of visitor logs revealed Cannard had visited the executive mansion eight times between July of last year and March of this year.
Dr. Tom Pitts caveated that he hasn’t diagnosed President Biden in person. NBC News
Late Monday, O’Connor acknowledged that Cannard had examined Biden as part of his annual physicals, but claimed the doctor had not seen the president outside of those occasions.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed Tuesday that the January meeting involving Cannard and O’Connor “was not” about Biden’s health.
Pitts called on both Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 78, to take a four-hour neurological test, which he called the “hallmark test for cognitive performance.”
President Biden insists that he is mentally fit for the job. AP
Despite his party preference, Pitts conceded that he was frustrated with the situation, likening the Biden administration to regimes of North Korea and Russia in terms of denying obviously realities.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.