October 3, 2020

Dr. Conley, Trump's doctor, attempted to give an update on Trump's condition on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, it was filled with numbers and dates that directly contradicted publicly available information. For example, Conley said Trump was diagnosed 72 hours ago, which would have meant early Wednesday, not late Thursday (which is what the public was told.) Conley also said that Trump was administered the experimental drug 48 hours ago, which would have meant early Thursday, before Trump went to a fundraiser in Bedminster, NJ.

Conley was forced to put out a statement almost instantly:

CNN's Jeremy Diamond talked about these discrepencies in the above clip:

Yeah, that's right. We have since learned a source telling our colleague Jim Acosta that the president did indeed receive supplemental oxygen yesterday morning at the White House before he ultimately left for Walter Reed, where he is now a patient admitted for several days, at least, we expect. So obviously when you heard Dr. Sean Conley, it was quite evident that was likely the situation because he kept saying the president is not currently on supplemental oxygen. He does not currently require supplemental oxygen. And when asked whether he was asked whether he had it in the past, he said no, he had not had it on Thursday and said yesterday he did not have it with the team here at Walter Reed, suggesting the president had indeed gotten supplemental oxygen, required it, in fact, while he was at the White House earlier in the day. This is just one of the things where we have watched the White House's explanation of the president's condition really shift. And it's really not been a model of transparency.

There's no question that hearing from Dr. Sean Conley, hearing from several other doctors today was the most information we have gotten so far. But then you heard Dr. Conley refuse to say specifically how high the president's fever spiked and provide some other information about the president's condition. And then of course as you referenced, Ana, there is this big question of the timeline. And Dr. Conley, earlier today saying that the president was diagnosed with coronavirus 72 hours ago, which would put his diagnosis to mid-day Wednesday, before which the president ultimately went off to a rally in Minnesota, and then carried on with his day as normal on Thursday, when he went to Bedminster, New Jersey.

Dr. Conley has now corrected that statement and I want to read you the latest memo from Dr. Conley, where he says, "This morning while summarizing the president's health, I incorrectly used the term 72 hours instead of day three and 48 hours instead of day two with regards to his diagnosis and the administration of polyclonal antibody therapy." He says, "The president was first diagnosed with COVID-19 on the evening of Thursday October 1st and had received regeron," he means Regeneron, but it gives you a sign of how quickly this was put together, "antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd." So, putting the timeline back in line with where things stood.

But I think we just have to underscore here, this is perhaps one of the most consequential moments of Donald Trump's presidency, of any president, perhaps, in recent memory. And the White House right now is really, you know, they're not doing it how you should, as it relates to communicating the president's health and all of the information around him. You know, they have not been a model of transparency. And honestly, by putting out half information or half truths about the president's condition, it really only garners more questions. And that is where we stand today, still wondering about the president's condition, particularly after a source familiar with the president's health saying that he experienced some tough symptoms over the last 24 hours, that they had concerns about his vital signs and that there is no clear path forward for his recovery as of now.

The White House is already known for being secretive, deceptive, and flat-out liars. Even through this national security emergency, where the president is in the hospital with a deadly virus with no treatment, they cannot be truthful. I anticipate we will have a 2nd explanation that will contradict the original press conference and the 1st explanation by the end of the day.

We will, of course, post updates as they become available. Or something like that.

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