The claims that President Joe Biden has a degenerative brain condition are back in the spotlight after he withdrew from the 2024 presidential race on Sunday.
The alleged diagnosis was made by Dr Tom Pitts, a leading neurologist, who said it was a ‘fact’ based on Biden’s notable gaffes in a disastrous debate performance in June.
Biden, 81, stumbled in answering questions, trailed off and appeared unfocused.
That came after years of allegations of ill-health, including being forgetful and falling over amid reports his close team keeps his health issues out of public view.
But the president continued on his path of self-destruction when he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as ‘Vice President Trump’ during a press conference last week. He has now endorsed her for the Democratic ticket.
The claims that President Joe Biden has a degenerative brain condition are back in the spotlight after he withdrew from the 2024 race on Sunday
‘His motor symptoms are degenerating,’ Pitts said. ‘He has Parkinsonisms. That is a fact. He has degeneration of the brain. Show me the MRI. Show me he doesn’t. Put your money where your mouth is. He definitely has it.’
Parkinsonisms is an umbrella term for degenerative brain conditions that include Parkinson’s.
Biden stepped aside Sunday after facing weeks of questions over his ability to serve as president following his disastrous debate with Trump on June 27.
The president was often seen on split screen with his mouth agape and a million-mile blank stare.
During his time to speak at the podium, the president would stumble, freeze, lose his train of thought and mumble his way through answers to moderator’s questions.
Biden’s bombshell decision was revealed in a one-page letter where he committed to completing his term and soon after posted a follow-up tweet endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.
‘It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,’ Biden wrote in a letter posted to his X account on Sunday.
‘And while it has been my intention to seek reelection,’ he went on, ‘I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has fiercely denied Biden is being treated for Parkinson’s disease, outside his regular checkups.
Jean-Pierre confirmed Biden had been examined three times by a neurologist but refused to say why a specialist visited the White House eight times in eight months, citing privacy and security concerns.
Pitts, a Columbia University graduate and a New York-based specialist board certified four times over, was asked his thoughts on the president’s condition during an interview with NBC.
On his various online profiles, Pitts does not mention any expertise in Parkinson’s.
He describes his expertise on LinkedIn as being in headaches, multiple sclerosis and other brain-related conditions, but not Parkinson’s.
He regularly speaks to the media about health issues are are in the news, including singer Celine Dion’s battle with stiff-person syndrome and the possible neurological impact of Covid-19.
He made the bombshell claim the Biden ‘definitely’ has Parkinson’s and sees people like him ’20 times a day’ working in his clinic, even stating that watching the president, he could have ‘diagnosed him from across the mall’.
‘It’s ironic because he has just this classic features of neurodegeneration: word-finding difficulties – and that’s not just ‘Oh, I couldn’t find the right word’ – that’s from degeneration of the word retrieval area.’
Pitts has not personally ever examined Biden but said that what he’s seen at the debate is very common among people with this condition.
‘You notice when he turns it’s kind of end-block turning; it’s not a quick turn,’ Pitts told NBC News.
‘That’s one of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s; it’s rigidity and bradykinesia, slow movement, And he has that hallmark, especially with the low voice they said was a cold; hypophonia, small monotone voice like this over time is a hallmark of Parkinsonism. I could have diagnosed him from across the mall.’
He also made it clear that Biden’s historic struggles overcoming a stutter as a young man have absolutely nothing to do with what Pitts believes he’s dealing with now.
‘This is not a palatal issue or a speech discrepancy,’ he said. ‘Plus the rigidity, monotone voice.’
Pitts, who says he’s a Democrat, says the condition is easy to diagnose even from afar. ‘His motor symptoms are degenerating,’ Pitts said bluntly. ‘He has Parkinson’s. That is a fact.’
![Now, as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denies Biden has been screened for Parkinson's Disease outside his regular checkups , Dr. Tom Pitts is speaking out](https://i0.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/10/01/87138017-13617865-image-a-12_1720570901357.jpg?resize=634%2C357&ssl=1)
Now, as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denies Biden has been screened for Parkinson’s Disease outside his regular checkups , Dr. Tom Pitts is speaking out
DailyMail.com reached out the White House for comment. They responded with a screenshot of the neurology section from Biden’s February health summary following his annual checkup.
The White House has done damage control following reports Joe Biden’s personal physician met with a top neurologist and Parkinson’s specialist at the White House.
There’s been frenzied speculation over Biden’s ailing health, which has been in question since his disastrous first debate with Donald Trump, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre adding fuel by saying the president has seen a neurologist three times.
Kevin O’Connor is a movement disorder specialist at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland.
O’Connor released a letter with the permission of both Biden and Cannard and confirmed that Cannard had been the neurologist who evaluated the president at each of his three physicals since he took office.
But most of Cannard’s visits to the White House were pursuant to his role as a specialist attached to the White House Medical Unit, treating patients for a wide array of neurological issues at the White House for a dozen years, O’Connor said.