The State Department on Tuesday had no explanation for why it hasn’t released any photograph or video of Secretary John Kerry while he recuperates in Massachusetts General Hospital, after he broke his leg while cycling in France last month.
Spokesman Jeff Rathke was asked when Kerry might appear in public, after he’s been completely out of the public eye for 10 days.
“I don’t have any update on his schedule of that sort,” Rathke said. “He remains in the hospital and is doing physical therapy and is in consultation with his doctors, but I don’t have an announcement about dates or timelines.”
“There hasn’t been a photograph, he hasn’t shown his face anywhere,” AP reporter Matt Lee said. Lee also suggested that State should release a short video showing Kerry, since he’s still the secretary of state despite his injury.
“I understand the interest, and I’m sure that before too long, that will also come,” Rathke said.
Kerry himself resolved the debate later Tuesday evening, with a tweet:
Feeling good a week after surgery. Good chats today w/@AmbassadorRice & @StateDept senior team. The work continues! pic.twitter.com/TzRpR0khQs
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) June 9, 2015
But when pressed during the day on whether State is taking steps to release a picture or video, Rathke dodged.
“As I said in response to Matt’s question, I think, you know, I think that will come,” Rathke said. “I note the interest, I appreciate it, I understand the reasons, so uh, um, but we’ll … when we have something to release we certainly will.”
Rathke seemed to waffle even more when asked if Kerry would be able to go to Europe later this summer to conclude the Iran nuclear negotiations.
“He’s going to go through his recovery process, you know, aggressively but responsibly,” Rathke said. “I don’t have a further time prediction to affix to that. That’s something that he and his doctors will have to … keep under review. So I don’t have a timeline.”
When one reporter said that sounded like an admission that Kerry might not make it to Europe, Rathke insisted he was not trying to walk back State’s earlier claim that Kerry would “absolutely” get back to Europe in time.
Lee, the AP reporter, ended the back-and-forth with an appeal to State to make some picture of Kerry available. Lee said Kerry should be able to return to his Massachusetts home by now if he just had a broken leg and just needed crutches to get around, and said the absence of any picture is allowing wild conspiracy theories to spread about Kerry’s health.
“These questions are not … completely unfounded questions to be asking,” Lee said.
