CNN Used Fake Doctor for Trump Hit Piecehttps://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/07/22/cnn-used-fake-doctor-for-trump-hit-piece-n4941998On July 17, 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a memo from President Trump’s physician, Captain Sean P. Barbarella, detailing a routine health check. Trump, now 79, had noticed mild leg swelling, which led to a thorough examination. The diagnosis? Chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition in older adults where leg veins struggle to pump blood back to the heart.
Barbarella wrote, “Bilateral lower extremity venous Doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.” No blood clots, no arterial disease, no heart failure — just a minor issue that's easy to manage.
The report also noted minor bruising on Trump’s hand, likely from his aspirin regimen and enthusiastic handshaking. Hardly a scandal, right?
But CNN couldn’t resist. It saw an opportunity to spin this into a full-blown health crisis, hoping to undermine Trump’s presidency.
Enter Chris Pernell, CNN's go-to “medical expert,” who warned that chronic venous insufficiency “is a disease that is progressive.”
"And what that means is that if there aren't conservative treatments, elevation, compression, medication, if needed, to treat accompanying ulcers or skin changes, it can worsen and actually put a person at risk for deep venous thrombosis,” Pernell said.
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The problem with the CNN piece is that Pernell isn’t even a practicing doctor. She’s a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) specialist who hasn’t practiced medicine since her residency. Oh, and she’s an “apostle” at a church whose leader calls Trump “the antichrist” and a “pedophile.”
Here's what Dr. Chris Pernell has to say about herself,
https://www.drchrispernell.com/about.php . I think "fake" is an overstatement, but CNN failed to mention that she has not practiced medicine for a good number of years, possibly not since completing her residency (her webpage gives no dates). IOW, CNN lied, unsurprisingly, by omission.
This is the website for the "groundbreaking assembly" in which she is a leader,
https://www.bethashemyhwh.org/. It appears to be a congregation or an association of several congregations. It is in the majority-black Holiness Pentecostal tradition, with some Faith Movement influence. I don't want to be disrespectful, but the group seems to use certain words in formulaic ways, almost like mantras. Its focus on, almost promotion of, certain leader personalities would be a yellow or orange flag for me, were I considering attending. I did not see any reference on the site to Trump, but I just didn't want to burn time rooting around the site.