Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had to abruptly end a White House press conference on Friday after President Donald Trump was forced to shorten his speech.
The briefing took place as President Donald Trump swore in Dr. Memhet Oz, a TV personality who will serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) during Trump’s second term.
As the press conference came to a close, the screen went black.
According to FOX News, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was forced to end the briefing early because one of Dr. Oz’s children needed to be escorted out of the Oval Office due to a medical emergency.
Leavitt could be heard instructing the press to leave the room immediately. Trump took a brief step away from his podium to assess the situation, while Dr. Oz’s wife, Lisa, expressed concern, according to the Mirror US. Dr. Oz was seen rushing over to assist as the chaos unfolded.
Subsequent video footage showed reporters assisting someone off the ground, but it was unclear who they were.
Another FOX News presenter added, “We don’t know what’s going on there; the press is being escorted out of the room.
“Obviously you can see that there was some situation that might have occurred, it might have been medical.”
Later, a video captured a girl being assisted as she was led out of the Oval Office.
The White House has not provided an update on the concerning incident.
Journalist Laura Loomer, who posted video of the incident, tweeted: “It appears a young girl had some sort of medical issue. President Donald Trump walked over to help.”
While full details are still unknown, many people have flocked to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their concern and send warm wishes.
Dr. Oz, who previously hosted his own show, “The Dr. Oz Show,” was one of Donald Trump’s picks, and he has been widely criticized for previous medical claims.
In a 2014 BMJ study, experts examined some of the medical advice given by Dr Oz on 40 episodes of his popular show, chosen at random. According to NBC News, their investigation found that nearly half of the advice given by the man known as “America’s doctor” lacked scientific support.
In a 2012 episode, he promoted green coffee extract as a “magic weight loss cure”. Later that year, however, one of the companies behind Dr Oz’s so-called weight loss miracle was ordered to pay the Federal Trade Commission $3.5 million.
The payment came after allegations that the company used “the findings from a defective study to endorse unfounded weight-loss claims” to sellers, according to the FTC.
