WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is bringing in his longtime doctor, Kevin O’Connor as the new physician to the president in the White House, filling a traditionally low-profile role that became the source of controversy under the Trump administration.
O’Connor, who has served as Biden’s doctor for more than a decade, will replace Dr. Sean Conley, a White House official said. Conley was criticized for giving conflicting information to the public about former President Donald Trump’s condition after Trump was diagnosed with Covid-19 and hospitalized last October.
O’Connor began serving as Biden’s physician in 2009 when he was appointed physician to the then-vice president and spent more than two decades in the Army. Once Biden left the White House, O’Connor continued on as his physician and retired from the military. His hiring was first reported by ABC News.
Conley had replaced Dr. Ronny Jackson as Trump’s doctor at the White House in 2018. Jackson declared earlier that year that Trump was in “excellent” health despite his statement that the president needed to lose weight because he was nearly obese.
Trump nominated Jackson to be his secretary of veterans affairs, but Jackson withdrew his nomination following accusations of drinking on the job and overprescribing medication to patients. Jackson now serves as a congressman in the House from Texas.
