White House Defends Surgeon General Nominee After Trump Comments

After President Donald Trump said he is considering withdrawing his nomination of Dr. Casey Means for surgeon general, press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that the president stands by her.

“Well, we’re looking at a lot of different things,” Trump said in response to a question from The Daily Signal on Sunday night. “I don’t know how she’s doing in the nomination process. I’m more focused on Iran. But, you know, something like that would be possible.”

“We certainly have a lot of great candidates for that job,” he said.

Leavitt told The Daily Signal on Monday evening that “the president stands by her and the Senate should move to quickly confirms Dr. Means as our next surgeon general without further delay.”

“Dr. Casey Means has spent her entire career as an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and researcher bringing attention to America’s chronic disease epidemic and how our healthcare system is failing the American people,” Leavitt said in a statement. “An alumna of Stanford University and the Stanford School of Medicine, there is no one better suited to advance President Trump’s agenda to Make America Healthy Again.”

Means attended Stanford Medical School before dropping out of her surgical residency to pursue holistic medicine.

She is the author of “Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health,” which she co-wrote with her brother Calley Means, who serves as senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Her confirmation faces headwinds in the Senate health committee, as three committee Republicans sounded skeptical during her confirmation hearing and have not committed to voting for her. These include Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the committee’s chair; Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

“I just have nothing to say on that right now,” Cassidy said on whether the committee had enough votes to advance Means’ confirmation, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

At her Feb. 25 confirmation hearing, Cassidy pressed Means about her past vaccine skepticism and pushed her to endorse broad childhood immunization programs, which she did not do.

“I believe that vaccines are a key part of any infectious disease public health strategy,” she said. “Anti-vaccine rhetoric has never been a part of my message.”

In her testimony, Means vowed to address the root causes of chronic disease, which she said were diet, overuse of medicine, lack of physical activity, industrial chemical exposure, chronic stress, and loneliness.

Means is Trump’s second nominee for the role after withdrawing his prior pick, Janette Nesheiwat, in May. Both nominations have faced opposition from far-right activists, including Laura Loomer.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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