THE WHITE HOUSE

Briefing Room

Press Briefing by Press Secretary

Karine Jean-Pierre with First Lady

of the United States Jill Biden, Ed.D.,

and Anthony Fauci, M.D., Chief

Medical Adviser to the President

of the United States

June 27, 2022

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:07 P.M. EDT

JEAN-PIERRE: Hello. Hi, everybody. Good afternoon, right? All right. Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you guys enjoyed a nice weekend. It’s good to see everyone here.

Today I’m joined by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who I probably don’t need to introduce — haha! — and of course I’m joined here by another doctor!

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: Wonderful, yes! Hahahaha! I do in fact have a doctorate and prefer to be called “doctor.”

JEAN-PIERRE: And we’re here to answer any questions you may have about the president’s recent bike mishap and any general issues you may want to clarify in regards to his general health.

Q: Can you tell us more about the fall? Has there been any medical examination?

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: I can say this, as a doctor, that the president is in fine shape and great good humor and a lot of this speculation, if I may say, is rumor and innuendo from his political enemies —

Q: Dr. Fauci, have you examined the president?

ANTHONY FAUCI, M.D.: Well, as you know, I have recently been quarantining following a Covid-19 positive test, so while I haven’t examined the president in person, I have spoken to him on the phone and we did have a Zoom.

JEAN-PIERRE: If there are no further questions, we can wrap for the —

Q: How did the president sound?

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: He sounded great! He’s great!

ANTHONY FAUCI, M.D.: It’s hard to say, frankly. The president never figured out how to take it off “mute.”

JEAN-PIERRE: If there are no further questions, we can wrap for the —

Q: Dr. Fauci, some people have been saying that the president is mentally just not there. Have you been able to make a medical determination?

ANTHONY FAUCI, M.D.: The president took a serious fall on his bike, and from the medical reports I’ve read, his physical condition is fine, with some slight contusions and mild scrapes on his legs. He also suffered some injuries to the interior of his mouth —

Q: His mouth?

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: Like a lot of us, the president occasionally gets confused and spreads peanut butter on his iPhone and eats it.

JEAN-PIERRE: If there are no further questions, we can wrap for the —

Q: The president tried to eat his phone?

ANTHONY FAUCI, M.D.: To be fair, he ceased chewing immediately upon detecting the glass.

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: — as a doctor, I assure you —

Q: Some people are saying that the president is mentally unfit, and that the result has been a rudderless Oval Office and a collapse in his poll numbers.

ANTHONY FAUCI, M.D.: It’s really difficult to issue a complete diagnosis, especially when the president’s behavior throughout the decades has been erratic and at times impossible to understand, but I think it’s clear that the president is making sound decisions despite the stress of the job. He quickly ascertained, for instance, that the English muffin he thought he was eating was in fact his iPhone 13, and that during our Zoom call when he referred to me as “Mother” and “Corn Pop” it was due to a bad connection on my part.

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: I really think, as a doctor, that we’re spending too much time —

JEAN-PIERRE: If there are no further questions, we can wrap for the —

Q: Just one more about the president’s appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Do we have any clarification on why the president referred to Kimmel as a “lovely little girl” and why he was touching himself in a lewd manner as they went to a break?

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: These are talking points right from Tucker. Seriously.

ANTHONY FAUCI, M.D.: I have reviewed the tape in question and it seems to me that the president was genuinely confused by the gender-fluid appearance of Jimmy Kimmel, and in addition was suffering some mild discomfort in his private area and was in need of adjustment and —

Q: As he walked to Marine One, the president announced that he had spoken to Vladimir Putin. Can we get some background on that?

ANTHONY FAUCI, M.D.: I can’t add anything.

JILL BIDEN, Ed.D.: Earlier today the president spoke to famous comedian Yakov Smirnoff and I think this may be the source of your confusion.

JEAN-PIERRE: If there are no further questions, we can wrap for the week. Thank you.