House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’s worried that the information the doctors are relaying to the public “has to be approved by the president,” calling the situation “not very scientific.”
By Associated Press
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the doctors treating President Donald Trump for the coronavirus must provide trustworthy information to the public.
Pelosi said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation”: “We need to have trust that what they’re telling us about the President’s condition is real.”
Her interview aired before the president’s medical team held a news conference at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he is receiving treatment.
Pressed about the conflicting information he and the White House released the day before, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley acknowledged Sunday that he had tried to present a rosy description of the president’s condition.
The doctor also said Trump’s blood oxygen level dropped suddenly twice in recent days, but he “has continued to improve” since then.
Pelosi says she’s worried that the information the doctors are relaying to the public “has to be approved by the president. That’s not very scientific.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, have tested negative again for the coronavirus days after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were diagnosed with COVID-19.
A Pence spokesperson confirmed Sunday’s negative tests.
Despite the president’s hospitalization, Pence is expected to resume regular campaigning this week with no changes to protocols meant to keep him from getting infected.
Pence is set to debate Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
Trump’s physician says he was trying to “reflect the upbeat attitude” of the president and his medical team when he declined to share Saturday that Trump was placed on oxygen the day before.
He added that he “didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction. And in doing so, came off like we’re trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true.”
Dr. Brian Garibaldi, a specialist in pulmonary critical care, said Trump received a second dose of the experimental drug remdesivir along with a first dose of dexamethasone Saturday and isn’t showing any side effects “that we can tell.”
He said Sunday that Trump is “up and well” and the plan was to have him “out of bed” Sunday as much as possible.
Garibaldi and Trump’s doctor, Dr. Conley, said if things continue to go well, Trump will be able to return to the White House on Monday to continue his five-day course of remdesivir treatment and other appropriate therapy.
The president’s physician says President Donald Trump was treated with a steroid after a drop in oxygen levels on Saturday.