Joe Biden opens up about cancer diagnosis as questions mount over health cover-up

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Former U.S. president Joe Biden is speaking out after his cancer diagnosis was revealed amid questions of a cover-up during his time in office.

The 82-year-old posted a smiling selfie alongside his wife, Jill, who held the couple’s cat Willow, thanking everyone for the kind words he has received since his battle with “aggressive” prostate cancer was announced on Sunday. The reveal came two days after Biden reportedly learned his diagnosis.

“Cancer touches us all,” the 82-year-old wrote in a social media post early Monday.

“Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places,” he continued.

“Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

According to Biden’s team, the octogenarian was diagnosed on Friday, after doctors discovered a “small nodule” on his prostate during a medical visit earlier this month for reported urinary symptoms.

The cancer, which had since spread to the bone, had been graded a Gleason score of 9, his spokesman said — suggesting his form was among the most aggressive.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said, adding that Biden and his family are “reviewing treatment options” with his doctors.

However, a top oncologist who once worked for Biden claimed that his ex-boss must have had prostate cancer long before the weekend announcement, even suggesting he had the disease for “a decade.”

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who helped create the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and served as a COVID-19 adviser to Biden, told MSNBC’s Morning Joe show — according to Newsweek — that “he’s had this for many years, maybe even a decade, growing there and spreading.”

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When asked if this was mere speculation, Emanuel denied it.

“He did not develop it in the last 100 to 200 days. He had it while he was president. He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021. Yes, I don’t think there’s any disagreement about that.”

Many on social media noted those who were accused of being conspiracy theorists regarding Biden’s health while he was in office and during his failed 2024 presidential campaign may have been speaking the truth.

Video has resurfaced of Biden slowly and carefully making his way up the staircase of Air Force One  last July.

“We were called conspiracy theorists who posted ‘cheap fakes’ when we shared videos like this of Biden barely being able to walk by himself,” commentator Collin Rugg posted on X.

“Are we supposed to believe that this aggressive cancer was just found and wasn’t covered up by the Biden admin / media?”

And a video from July 2022 shows Biden “accidentally” said he had cancer during a press conference.

“Was this a Freudian slip or just another one of his stutters/gaffes? Really makes you wonder,” one account asked.

CNN analyst Brian Stelter called the cancer announcement “extraordinary” given that it comes days after the release of audio excerpts from his conversations with former special counsel Robert Hur.

The recently published excerpts captured Biden rambling through an interview with Hur in October 2023, with the then-president repeatedly losing his train of thought and struggling to recall key details from both his professional life and his personal life, including when his son Beau died, according to the Daily Mail.

“On the day that story was breaking, Biden was facing this personal news,” Stelter said. “So you have that as one element of the timing here.”

The CNN personality also noted Tuesday’s release of the book Original Sin, which pulls back the curtain of Biden’s mental and physical decline.

“And then you have… this book coming out,” Stelter added, “one of the biggest political books in several years.”