On May 18th, former president Joe Biden's office issued a statement saying that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His cancer was estimated at a Gleason score of 9, meaning that it is one of the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer and has reportedly spread to his bone, which makes it more dangerous than earlier-caught cancer. Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center said that his condition was "very treatable, but not curable" and that treatments have the potential to significantly increase his life expectancy.
Because of Biden's prominence as a public figure, his diagnosis has caused a great deal of speculation, misinformation, and all-around political brouhaha.
Joe Biden received well wishes from various figures on both sides of the aisle, including the Obamas, former second couple Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff, Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, and current president Donald Trump.
However, since his initial message of sympathy, Trump has changed his tune; he has long criticized Biden's health as a detriment to his leading abilities and has used the diagnosis to cast further doubt upon Biden's condition while he was in office.
Trump has made statements criticizing the doctors who previously deemed Biden fit for office: "Why wasn't the cognitive ability, why wasn't that discussed? And I think the doctor said he's just fine. And, it's turned out that's not so. It's very dangerous. Look, this is no longer politically correct. This is dangerous for our country." Trump also said "somebody is not telling the facts," implying that doctors and other people around Biden were deceiving the American public about his health and possible leadership.
People around Trump have followed suit, with Vice President JD Vance saying: "We [need] to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job," reinforcing a common republican talking point that Biden's age made him unfit for office (despite the fact that Trump himself is only 3 years younger and 78 is not exactly spry).
Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., recently tweeted in response to a post by an account called "Raging Americans" speculating that Joe Biden has had cancer for two years, saying "Everyone was in on the cover-up!" and asking, "Who was running the country?" which is a rather blatant way of implying that Biden was a political puppet or part of some broader conspiracy. According to DW News, these dangerous claims, including the original claim that Joe Biden has had cancer for two years are unproven. Also worth noting is that in the video, Biden is seemingly referring to common and mild non-melanoma cancer that he had previously gotten removed, not the serious prostate cancer that he is currently afflicted with.
During an examination last year, then-White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor described Biden as a “healthy, active, robust 81-year-old.” Obviously, Biden is no longer healthy nor robust in light of his diagnosis, but is this change a cause for speculation as Trump seems to be implying?
According to a recently published book by CNN and Axios journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, "Original Sin," Joe Biden has been on a dramatic mental and physical decline that his staff worked to cover up. The book has been praised by the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and several other publications. This combined with his general public image for the past couple of years does support the idea that he was probably experiencing decline, but the speculative and sometimes outlandish claims made by Trump and his allies should still be taken with a grain of salt.
Sources:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/what-to-know-about-bidens-prostate-cancer-diagnosis
https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-misinformation-after-bidens-cancer-diagnosis/a-72605716
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/former-president-joe-biden-diagnosed-prostate-cancer-rcna207571
https://abc7.com/post/trump-says-somebody-is-not-telling-facts-biden-cancer-diagnosis/16480205/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-george-clooney-hollywood-fundraiser-2024-original-sin-book-rcna206640
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/trump-allies-suggest-biden-hid-cancer-diagnosis-rcna207659
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/can-democrats-blame-problems-biden-rcna206307
15 comments:
Biden public announcement to being diagnosed with cancer will most likely make the public feel a sense of guilt especially the ones that would call him words such as “sleep joe” or “too old to be president “. Like this blog says, the announcement also leads to misinformation, which can’t be good especially at a time of such high political tensions. On the other hand, the public could use videos diagnostic as a way to further polarization by using this as evidence as to why Trump is and was a better candidate for president, using Bidens age and physical state (his cancer) as the reasoning.
This was Juliette by the way.
I think we could have suspected something regarding Biden's health considering the state that he was in prior to dropping out of the election. Regardless of opinion on his policies or his time as president, he was a large part of our modern era, being the president that took over during COVID. Unfortunately people will turn this story into a "why Trump deserved to be president more" or a "Biden was always unfit to serve as president." Can't help but to feel for Biden, as he did want to serve his country even in a state like this.
Although Trump and his allies’ claim may not be true, it is scary to think that the president’s physician is involved politically (or at least censored). The president’s physician’s main job is to take care of the president’s health, but also to have a reliable and healthy person that can take reasonable actions to protect the country. I don’t know much about prostate cancers, but a cancer that has spread all the way to the bones is usually a stage IV cancer. According to CancerResearchUK, prostate cancers take around 5 years to develop all the way to stage IV. Now, I’m pretty sure there are irregular cancers which can develop significantly faster, but to know that someone who was a president 5 months ago and the president’s physician could not find anything about it, scares me. Whether the cause was to hide Biden’s liability, or if the physician was not looking carefully enough either way I think the president’s health is critical not just as a human but for the whole entire country.
No matter one’s political beliefs, I don’t think there should be anything but support and sympathy for Joe Biden in regards to his diagnosis. Turning this unfortunate news into a jab on the former president's capabilities while in office, seems very insensitive. Criticizing Biden and suggesting there was knowledge on this cancer while in office is ultimately unproductive. I am unsure why an examination last year would suggest he was healthy, but at the end of the day what’s done is done and we should be more focused on supporting Biden and his family through this time.
I do hope that Biden does recover and stays healthy but, it is concerning how his doctors and staff worked to hide the fact that he was not in shape mentally nor physically. I feel these lashes from the Trump administration and media are a result of this hiding, as it is naturally in this era that we make impulsive speculations that we don't even know is true. Concealing information leads to speculations and guesses that may not be true since there is no base information to believe, which in this case turned out to be a negative effect for Biden as people now believe he had been purposely hiding his conditions for 2 years thanks to Trump's claims.
At this point it really isn’t surprising that Trump would use such a saddening situation to push a political agenda. In a way it is a good question to ask, why have the last 3 of our presidential terms been held by people who are so old? But Trump does it in a way that shows no care and breeds anger. He has gotten to a point where he just says whatever comes to mind, which is almost always insulting, and gets away with it
President Biden’s cancer diagnosis has been distorted into a political spectacle rather than treated as a moment for collective empathy. It’s disheartening to see how quickly public figures have turned to conspiracy and partisan accusations, ignoring the humanity behind the situation. Illness—especially one as serious as cancer—should not be an excuse to undermine someone’s legacy or leadership through unverified claims. The rush to frame this as a scandal, with figures like Trump Jr. pushing conspiracy theories, highlights how quickly public discourse can become toxic, especially when facts are cast aside for political gain.
It is deeply sad that a person’s physical health can turn into something political. Biden’s condition is severe and isn’t something that should be turned into fuel to put the political parties against each other with aggravating assumptions and theories about a “coverup” or a “lie”. It is insulting and it is unempathetic to somebody who is in such a vulnerable position. During this time, the only thing that should be coming from this situation is warm wishes towards Biden and his family. For people such as Trump Jr. to be immediately jumping to nasty conclusions highlights how unhealthy the competition truly is in politics, where one of the first motives would be to attack instead of sympathize.
Politics aside for a second, all of Trump’s outlandish statements boil down to a simple lack of human decency. Anyone with a brain and a heart should know how evil it is to beat someone down further for their cancer diagnosis, especially if it is something they are still dealing with. Trump is usually spewing misinformation, but questioning Biden’s health and the doctors around him is simply ridiculous — it is clear that he doesn’t actually care about the diagnosis itself at all, and just wants to garner more support for himself. On the other hand, it enrages me that he criticizes the doctors around Biden, considering that his administration is cutting disease research and defunding the same medicinal resources that are necessary for human welfare. However, even if he didn’t have devious political motivations for his claims about Biden, questioning Biden’s past two years rather than being truly sorry for him in the present is just cruel — and will probably lead to a lot of his supporters doing the same.
Honestly Trump and Trump Jr.'s behavior regarding Biden's health has been disgusting. Speaking so inappropriately about a man suffering from a severe health condition shows exactly the state U.S politics is in. The quality of showing empathy or respect has gone out the window. Everything has become toxic competition, even when he's won. His initial well wishes are completely cancelled out by his desire to prove that Biden was unfit to be in office. Rather than being a normal person and showing the care an unwell man deserves, he continues to push his own agenda. No matter your beliefs or political standpoint, we as people should be able to show respect where it is due.
It's very upsetting to hear about how sick the former president is. It really seems like a slap in the face to be receiving all these comments from Trump about how he's unable to serve as a good president. Cancer is just not something to joke around about and he is sick and told the USA and to receive accusations is a step in the wrong direction for humanity. Its crazy how Trump is saying how unfit Biden is, also with his age when trump is only 3 years younger, neither are young presidents.
The health of Biden is very concerning and saddening. Trump's very quick turnaround in the tone of his response is disappointing, as his initial response was kind. However, however disrespectful, his points of the obfuscation of Bidens health were not moot, despite their exaggerated nature. Business y health was arguably unfairly hidden by the democratic party. This was so kept rather secret until he was dropped from the race in mid 2024.
Evan btw
Biden’s cancer diagnosis is really serious, but it’s turning into more of a political fight than an actual concern for his health. Trump and his supporters are using it to attack Biden’s ability to lead, even though most of their claims are just guesses. It’s hard to have a real conversation about Biden’s health when so much misinformation is getting thrown around.
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