Rhiannon Ingle
An insider has revealed why the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr., ran off after a man collapsed during a White House conference on Thursday (6 November).
During Donald Trump’s announcement of a new weight loss drug deal, the man suffered a health emergency and collapsed on the floor, causing the event to be cut short.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed the man, a representative of one of the health care companies in attendance, was 'OK'.
The incident happened while Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks was speaking.
Advert
"You OK?" Ricks asked, as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and others moved to help. Several attendees helped lower the man to the ground and elevated his feet while reporters were escorted out of the room.
A live feed briefly showed Trump, 79, watching with a blank expression before cameras were cut, leading to social media criticism of his seemingly detached reaction.
They likewise called out RFK Jr.'s reaction, too, after he immediately exited from the room as the man fell to the floor.
"RFK bailing out is killing me," hit out one X user.
A second questioned: "How you the Health and Human Services Secretary and you just walk off ???"
"RFK Jr's response to someone collapsing nearby him was to haul ass out of the room as quickly as possible," declared another.
And a final X user wondered: "Why did he get tf outta there tho lmfao?"
Well, a source who attended the conference told PEOPLE that 'three doctors' rushed to assist a man who collapsed while Ricks was speaking.
According to the source, Kennedy initially 'went into the other room to grab a chair because when [the man] first started to fall, he thought maybe he just needed to sit'.
"He came back with a wet towel, and by then [the man] was already on the floor," the source continued.
"As they were trying to prop him up, Kennedy ran back and brought in a chair for him."
White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai later defended Kennedy on X, responding to a post that criticised him for leaving the room: "The Secretary rushed to get medical assistance while others tended to the man, you ghoul."
The source added that the man who fainted appeared to be 'in pretty bad shape'.
Although he was conscious and his heart rate 'looked normal,' his blood pressure 'was in the tank,' the source claimed. "He tried to sit up for a bit, but he was definitely pale.
"They eventually laid him back down before taking him out on a gurney."
As we say, following the incident, Leavitt told reporters that the man was 'OK' and that the press conference would continue shortly.
When the event resumed, Trump addressed the situation, saying: "One of the representatives of one of the companies got a little light-headed and went down, but he’s fine."
"He’s got doctor’s care, but he’s fine. So we had a little bit of an interruption - sorry for that," the president added.