OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A Fox News reporter believed she caught the administration in an “inconsistency” as it relates to the treatment that President Joe Biden has received since his COVID diagnosis.
Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich said that White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was being inconsistent on why the president was given Tylenol when she questioned the press secretary at a press briefing on Friday.
The correspondent and other reporters have been pressuring the White House to make Biden physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor available to answer questions.
“But when we’ve got questions about, you know, his symptoms progressing. He had a fever last night. His cough is now loose as opposed to dry,” Heinrich said.
“So he didn’t he did not have a fever last night. Just to make that clear, I think Dr. Jha made that very clear night. 99.4 is not a fever. It’s not even a low-grade fever. So he did not have a fever last night. He treated it. He gave Tylenol. And I should actually let Dr. Jha speak to this more, because he is the medical doctor, which is why he’s joining me today at the briefing room. He gave the Tylenol for discomfort, which is not unusual if you have cold, but many of you have had COVID. We would argue that if we probably take the temperature of some people here, they might have a 99.4 degree Fahrenheit temperature. That is not uncommon, but I would let Dr. Jha speak to that more,” the press secretary said before White House Covid coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha answered.
“But let me just talk about the, Dr. O’Connor. And so you’ve you’ve heard directly from him, as Karine said, in terms of the notes that he writes every morning. He and I, he and Dr. Fauci, all of us talk multiple times during the day. Dr. Fauci is the president’s chief medical adviser and obviously one of the foremost experts on infectious diseases. We speak very regularly. I’ve been connecting, speaking every day with the president today by face time. And you’re getting updates sort of about twice a day, right? You got one yesterday at this time. Early this morning, you got an update about how he was through last night. I was on TV at 6:40 in the morning. Did not think it was appropriate for me to call the president at 6:20 to wake him up and say, you know, how are you feeling? I think he’d be like, probably would tell me that he would be feeling better if I hadn’t called in walking him. So but you know, obviously he was seen early this morning. He was examined. And then immediately we put out information about the president’s status overnight. I’m not here to give you more information about that. The point is, like we’re giving you information on a very, very regular basis and we’re doing it as a team with all of us,” he said.
That is when Heinrich nailed them on the inconsistency.
“So you’ve described, when his letter has described his 99.4-degree non-fever as being treated with Tylenol. And now we’re hearing from you that he was treated for discomfort. That’s an inconsistency!” she said.
“So I’ll have to pull up that letter. But what I understand and spoke to Dr. O’Connor, spoke to the president and those of you who know, 100.4, as I’ve been taking my patients for 20 some odd years. 100.4 is what we consider a low-grade fever. 101.5 is what we consider a regular fever. 99.4 is very much within the normal range. Most people are between 97 and 99. People tend to have slightly higher temperatures later in the day and into the evening. This is often why we see fevers often come up for people who actually have fever in the evening. I told you yesterday the patient was patient. Well, the patient, the president — was feeling tired and he just didn’t feel as great yesterday. It feels much better today, by the way. And for anybody who’s ever had a viral syndrome, I assume many of you had a cold in your life. Many of you had COVID, many might have had a flu. When you just don’t feel great taking Tylenol, have you? That helps you feel better. And so Dr. O’Connor gave him some Tylenol early in the evening and, but noted because his temperature was 99.4, he just noted the temperature was 99.4. That was the highest temperature the president’s had in the last 24 hours, or since he was found to be infected. And and so he noted that as a, as a part of his treatments. But the president has had no fevers. 99.4 is the highest temperature the president’s had so far. And the president is continuing to do better and feel better today,” the doctor said.
The letter was penned by Dr. O’Connor and said, “His symptoms have improved. He did mount a temperature yesterday evening to 99.4°F, which responded favorably to acetaminophen (TYLENOL). His temperature has remained normal since then.”
The letter does not say why the president was given the Tylenol or what caused this discomfort and these questions could be simply answered if the White House made Dr. O’Connor available to the media.
