Featured Image Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
President Donald Trump has given the media a shocking response to the appointment of an influencer with no medical license as the new US Surgeon General.
The Trump administration recently announced that a new nominee for the position of US Surgeon General would be health entrepreneur and wellness influencer Casey Means.
This came as a surprise to the public after it was revealed that Means is not actually a practising physician.
And when Trump was quizzed on the matter during a press briefing at the Oval Office, he had a shocking response.
Advert
One reporter asked the president: “You just announced a new nominee for the US Surgeon General who never finished her residency, and is not a practicing physician. So can you explain why you picked her to be America’s top doctor?”
REPORTER: You just announced a new nominee for US Surgeon General who never finished her residency, and is not a practicing physician. So can you explain why you picked her to be America's top doctor?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 8, 2025
TRUMP: Because Bobby thought she was fantastic ... I don't know her pic.twitter.com/ZYjtiPk4sH
Trump replied: “Because Bobby thought she was fantastic, she’s a brilliant woman who went through Stanford and, as I understand it, she wanted to be an academic as opposed to a surgeon.
“I think she graduated first in her class at Stanford and Bobby really thought she was great, I don't know her, I listened to the recommendation of Bobby.
“I met her yesterday and once before, she’s a very outstanding person and a great academic actually, so I think she’ll be great.”
Bobby is a nickname for Robert F Kennedy Jr who is the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
People took to social media to share their own reactions to Trump’s reasoning behind the new appointment, with many sharing a similar sentiment of shock that the president admitted he ‘doesn’t know’ the person he is backing for the role.
On X, formerly Twitter, one user wrote: “So, reads books and passes tests great, but no actual field experience or exposure to the choas of surgery and just dealing with patients. But Bobby likes her, so it's cool.”
Another said: “The more unqualified the better chances of appointment w trump.”
A third person commented: “Not a doctor. Didn’t finish residency. Trump doesn’t know her. Perfect MAGA resume.”
A fourth said: “He says she graduated first in her class at Stanford. Her website says she received a Stanford BA with honors and an MD from Stanford Med School. If she was first in her class at either level, wouldn't she say that? Or was this another ‘useful hyperbole’ thing?”
And a fifth user added: “Equal parts sad, scary, and funny.”
