After President Donald Trump discussed the possibility of withdrawing his nomination of Dr. Casey Means for surgeon general, press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that the president stands by her.
Leavitt told The Daily Signal on Monday evening that “the president stands by her and the Senate should move to quickly confirm Dr. Means as our next surgeon general without further delay.”
Trump on Sunday night said that withdrawing Means’ nomination would be “possible.”
“Well, we’re looking at a lot of different things,” Trump said in response to a question from The Daily Signal. “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.
On Monday, the White House highlighted Means’ record on health care.
“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. Her Oregon medical license is listed as “inactive,” which Means said was voluntary.
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.
However, three Republicans on the Senate health committee have reportedly not committed to voting for her: Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the committee’s chair; Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
At her Feb. 25 confirmation hearing, Cassidy pressed Means about her past vaccine skepticism and pushed her to endorse broad childhood immunization programs.
“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.
Reuters contributed to this report.
