Joe Biden struggling with ‘painful’ cancer spread
Updated . First published at
Former US president Joe Biden’s cancer is spreading further and causing him great pain even as he keeps up his public obligations, his son has said.
Biden, 83, was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in May last year, several months after leaving office.
Hunter Biden, left, with his father, then-US President Joe Biden, in 2023. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, his son Hunter Biden admitted it was “really sad to watch”.
“The only thing I’ll say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more. Because it’s not good,” Hunter Biden said.
“The cancer has spread, mestastasised, into his bones and further.
“It’s very painful, and it’s very debilitating in many respects.”
However, he said, his father remained publicly active.
“But he’s still out there, he’s still doing his thing … he so believes in this country,” Hunter Biden said.
Joe Biden’s age was a key factor in his decision to abruptly withdraw from the 2024 presidential campaign, after concerns grew within the Democratic Party about his mental and physical stamina.
A disastrous debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump, during which Biden appeared forgetful and exhausted, was the final catalyst for him to pull out of the campaign, on which the Democrats approved the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden was the oldest president in US history, but will be surpassed by current White House occupant Trump before the end of Trump’s second term.
Trump’s own onstage gaffes and misstatements, such as a recent reference to “the Islamic Republic of Japan”, have also drawn some speculation as to his mental wellbeing, but Trump’s meandering dialogue is more consistent with his long-term public speaking pattern.
Biden was diagnosed with prostate cancer after leaving office. AP
Both men received approving fitness reports during their time as president, though Trump has made several visits to Walter Reed medical centre in his second term.
His administration has insisted those visits, which have included cognitive tests, are mere routine.
Hunter Biden, himself the target of attacks from the Republican Party in an attempt to link his father to alleged shady business dealings, has recently emerged as a social media star, following years of drug addiction and scandal.
The younger Biden has embraced his past baggage and his recovery, and has launched frequent attacks on the Trump administration, such as a recent sardonic congratulatory message to the president for the record number of times he had ended the Iran war.
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