President Trump announced that Dr. Casey Means will be nominated as the next surgeon general, and pulled the nominee whom he had previously announced for the post amid scrutiny of her credentials.
On social media Wednesday, Mr. Trump wrote that Dr. Means is his choice instead of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, whose nomination he had announced earlier.
“Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to ‘ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,” the president wrote.
He wrote that Dr. Nesheiwat, a former Fox News contributor, will work with Mr. Kennedy “in another capacity.”
This is the second health nominee Mr. Trump has pulled from consideration. He previously withdrew Dr. Dave Weldon, a former House lawmaker, from being considered to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Nesheiwat had recently been questioned about her credentials after CBS News reported last month that she actually received her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean, not from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine, which she previously claimed.
She completed a family medicine residency at the Arkansas school, but did not receive her degree there.
Right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer had also questioned the first surgeon general pick. On X earlier this month, she wrote that there should be a “new nominee” for the position.
“I know @realDonaldTrump likes people who go on TV for some weird reason I will never understand (I still love him), but we can’t have a pro-COVID vaccine nepo appointee who is currently embroiled in a medical malpractice case and who didn’t go to medical school in the US as the US Surgeon General. She is now being accused of lying about her medical credentials,” she wrote.
Ms. Loomer has been known to have influence over administration personnel picks and has shared previous concerns over other positions with Mr. Trump at the White House, including the National Security Council.
Dr. Means is a holistic medicine physician who graduated from Stanford Medical School. She is the sister of Calley Means, a special government employee for HHS.
Mr. Means congratulated his sister in a social media post saying that he is “so proud of her and know she will help the President and @SecKennedy change the world.”
