Biden's post-presidency: From Social Security talk in Chicago to appearing on 'The View'
Joe Biden ended a half-century career in public office after a rough final year that saw him drop out of the 2024 presidential race amid questions about his age and fitness. Now, he has returned to the national spotlight after it was announced that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this month.
A Biden spokesperson said on May 18 that the former president has been diagnosed with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer that has spread to the bone. Biden was diagnosed after "experiencing urinary symptoms," and a "nodule" was discovered on his prostate, according to the statement.
The former commander-in-chief, who left the White House and headed straight to California for vacation, has stayed low-key for months. The cancer diagnosis came as Biden, 82, was starting to grapple publicly with Donald Trump's presidency, which some Democrats blame on his decision to wait so long to exit the 2024 race.
Biden began to reemerge publicly over the last month, giving a speech in Chicago, followed by an appearance on ABC's "The View," and then with an interview with the BBC. Biden said on "The View" that he was "trying to figure out what the most significant and consequential role I can play" post presidency.
Now his plans are being upended by a significant health fight.
Biden's first speech since leaving the White House came on April 15 in Chicago as Trump approached the 100-day mark of his presidency. The former president criticized his successor's opening policy blitz.
"In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction,' Biden said at a national conference of Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago. "They've taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration."
The remarks came as Democrats were distraught about the opening days of Trump's presidency. Biden's role in the party has been unclear as Democrats look for new, younger voices to take on Trump.
Biden finished his one term in the White House with low approval ratings and facing second-guessing from fellow Democrats. He sought to rehabilitate his image in the party, hiring a well-known Democratic operative to help.
Biden began making the media rounds, attempting to rehabilitate his reputation, ahead of two highly anticipated books excavating his administration's efforts to downplay concerns about his age and acuity that many believe hobbled Democrats in 2024.
Appearing on "The View", Biden rebuffed criticism that he waited too long to drop out of the 2024 race and maintained he would have defeated Trump in a rematch last fall. He also pushed back on those saying he experienced cognitive decline, adding: "They are wrong."
And earlier this month, Biden told the BBC that ending his 2024 bid was "the right decision" but "just a difficult decision."
"It was hard to say now I'm going to stop," he told the BBC. "Things moved so quickly that it made it difficult to walk away."
His May 16 prostate cancer diagnosis came on the same day Axios released recordings of Biden's five-plus hours of interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur. Hur ultimately decided not to prosecute Biden for improper possession of classified documents and asserted that jurors would have viewed Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and turned the Democratic nomination over to former Vice President Kamala Harris after a disastrous debate performance against Trump. The debate heightened concerns about Biden's mental acuity.
Since his cancer diagnosis, Biden has received an outpouring of support from across the political spectrum. Trump, Harris, former President Barack Obama, and former President Bill Clinton have all wished Biden well on social media.
"Joe is a fighter - and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership," Harris wrote.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, Phillip Bailey, and Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden retreated from the spotlight after leaving the White House
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
12 minutes ago
- USA Today
Wildfire smoke, shark pardons and lost 401(k) accounts: Your week in review
Wildfire smoke, shark pardons and lost 401(k) accounts: Your week in review Show Caption Hide Caption Smoke drifting into US from Canada wildfires could impact health Smoke from wildfires in Canada has drifted into Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Midwestern and East Coast states, and as far south as Florida. Canadian wildfire smoke hangs over U.S. Skies were looking milky across much of the United States for days as smoke from wildfires raging in Canada drifted into northern and Midwestern states and dipped even as far south as Florida. The Dakotas, Iowa and most of Minnesota and Wisconsin were under air quality alerts, and the haze hung over major cities including New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Boston. More than 200 wildfires were burning in Canada as of June 3, and more than half were classified as "out of control," Canadian forest fire authorities said. More news about our planet: Sign up for USA TODAY's Climate Point newsletter. Trump pardons Florida divers who freed sharks Presidential pardons have often sparked controversy, but Donald Trump's latest gesture had some teeth to it. Trump granted full clemency to two Florida divers, John Moore Jr. and Tanner Mansell, who were convicted of theft for cutting 19 sharks free from a fisherman's longline in 2020. They had assumed the gear was illegal; it turns out it belonged to a vessel permitted by the federal government to harvest sandbar sharks for research. "Whether people believe in his politics or not, he chose to pardon me ... and only ever wanted to help," Mansell said in a text. "I can't help but feel extremely grateful." A fortune sits in 'lost' 401(k) accounts You might think it would be hard to forget almost $60,000. But at least $1.7 trillion is wasting away in forgotten 401(k) accounts, the financial firm Capitalize found, and the average lost balance is $56,616. How does that happen? People who leave a job "usually have a bunch of things going on,' said David John of the AARP Public Policy Institute, and simply lose track. (More than 47 million Americans quit their jobs in the Great Resignation of 2021.) And someone who leaves a job after only a year or two might be especially prone to overlook a modest balance − which, thanks to the magic of tax-free investment growth, eventually turns into a big balance. Loretta Swit, 'M*A*S*H's beloved 'Hot Lips,' dies Fans, friends and co-stars were remembering Loretta Swit, who starred as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan through all 11 seasons of TV's hugely popular Korean War dramedy "M*A*S*H" and gave depth and strength to a character who began as an oversexed blond stereotype. Swit, 87, died May 30. "More than acting her part, she created it," star Alan Alda, 89, posted on X. Jamie Farr, 90, who played Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger, told USA TODAY she was his "adopted sister … as close as family can get." The cast was a tight-knit group through the years, Swit once said: "We might as well be joined at the hip." Close isn't good enough for the New York Knicks Some teams just want to win NOW. Maybe that's why the New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau, stunning much of the basketball world, just days after the franchise flirted with the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years before falling to the Indiana Pacers. Not bad for a team that had won just 21 games in the 2019-20 season before Thibodeau took over. The Knicks might be forgiven for being a little impatient after their magical run, however: They have not won a title since 1973. (The NBA Finals, with the Pacers facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, tipped off June 5). − Compiled by Robert Abitbol, USA TODAY copy chief
USA Today
12 minutes ago
- USA Today
I'm a Florida teacher. My passion to teach could be in violation of the law.
I'm a Florida teacher. My passion to teach could be in violation of the law. | Opinion This is the real damage: When fear begins to replace curiosity, and when silence replaces speech. Show Caption Hide Caption What we know now about President Trump's reshaping of education Education, especially higher education, has been a major focus of President Trump's term. Here is what we know now about his changes to education. As I prepare to teach a new literature course at Palm Beach State College (PBSC) this term, I find myself hesitating over something that, until recently, would have been routine: Selecting the works I assign to my students. The anthology adopted by our department includes powerful selections from African American, Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ+ writers – voices that capture the richness, contradiction and struggle of the American experience. These are voices I have taught for decades. But now I ask myself: Am I allowed to? Florida's 2023 legislation – most notably, Senate Bill 266 – prohibits instruction that espouses theories suggesting systemic racism, sexism or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and that they were created to maintain social or economic inequities. The language is broad, and the intent seems clear: Restrict the way educators discuss identity, history and power. But what is less clear is what this means in practice for teachers like me, particularly in college classrooms. I am a lifelong educator. I spent 36 years in the New York City Department of Education as a teacher, department chair and supervisor. For the last 12 years, I have taught English literature at PBSC. Does my passion to teach violate the law? My passion has always been to encourage students to read deeply, think critically and reflect honestly – especially about the kind of country we live in and the lives we each bring to the table. That requires a broad and inclusive literary canon. It requires teaching James Baldwin and Langston Hughes not only for their artistry, but also for the searing truths they offer about race and belonging in America. It means examining the cultural double-consciousness in Sandra Cisneros, the generational trauma in Ocean Vuong, the gender defiance in Audre Lorde. Literature becomes real when it speaks both to and through the student reading it. That is the essence of education. Opinion: We desegregated schools 71 years ago. We still have more work to do. But now, when I consider assigning those same texts, I worry: Will presenting such works – even neutrally, even for discussion – be seen as violating this law? If I ask students to consider the historical roots of injustice in a work by August Wilson or Toni Cade Bambara, could that be construed as "promoting a theory" rather than simply exposing students to a reality reflected in literature? Worse, the chilling effect has begun to erode the classroom itself. Faculty colleagues increasingly wonder whether they should self-censor – not out of agreement with the law, but out of a desire to avoid trouble. This is the real damage: When fear begins to replace curiosity, and when silence replaces speech. I do not seek to indoctrinate my students. I never have. I seek to challenge them, to open doors through literature that lead into the complicated, layered and sometimes uncomfortable questions that make up life in a pluralistic democracy. That is not political. That is educational. Opinion: As a college professor, I see how AI is stripping away the humanity in education Forbidding certain materials only limits our understanding Let us be clear: Removing or discouraging the inclusion of marginalized voices in the classroom does not eliminate discomfort. It only eliminates understanding. If our students cannot engage with difficult truths in college classrooms, where are they to encounter them? If we cannot safely present a range of American experiences through our literary heritage, what remains of our intellectual freedom? I do not write this out of defiance, but out of love – for teaching, for literature and for the role education plays in shaping thoughtful citizens. The danger of this legislation is not only in its enforcement but also in its ambiguity. It turns teachers into second-guessers. It turns students into cautious bystanders. And it risks turning Florida's classrooms into places where only the most neutral, safest voices are heard. But the world is not neutral. Literature is not safe. And education, at its best, is a form of illumination, not erasure. Carmine Giordano is an adjunct lecturer in English at Palm Beach State College. This column originally appeared in the Palm Beach Post.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A few votes can swing a ward race. Morris County has a few wild ones in 2025
Local elections, particularly in election years not involving presidential or midterm congressional races, are often decided by a handful of votes cast among low voter turnouts. In towns where council or committee elections are split into separate geographic wards, the voter margins are often razor-thin, with as few as two or three votes sometimes making the difference. That should come as an added incentive for ward residents in towns such as Dover and Rockaway Township to make their vote count. This year, both of those towns feature some of the most contentious campaigns in Morris County. In Dover, two well-known town leaders are challenging incumbent council candidates backed by Mayor James Dodd in separate ward races in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, June 10. The winners will be heavily favored in the majority Democratic town to win office in November. In 2023, the last non-presidential election year, only 1,978 votes were cast in the Dover Democratic primary's four ward races, or about 495 votes per ward. The average margin of victory was about 65 votes. This year, the two most notable and noisy campaigns have been seen and heard in wards 1 and 2. The Ward 1 race pits first-term incumbent Claudia Toro against former Dover Board of Education President Daniella Mendez. Toro, who owns a family tax service in Dover, touts her achievements as a successful female Hispanic business owner and public servant. She's been a Dover resident since immigrating from Colombia in 2004. Mendez made headlines in 2023 as the first trans woman in the state to be elected as a public school board president. After completing two terms leading the board, she stepped down last year to focus on her council campaign, which she launched in December. Raised in Paterson, she's been a Dover resident for 10 years. The race has featured heated rhetoric from both sides, particularly from the Toro campaign and its supporters, which has produced literature, social media and video alleging improprieties in Mendez's personal life. Speaking to the Daily Record a week before the primary, Mendez said she wanted to focus beyond "the smear campaign" of her opponents and stick to the issues. She said the work she does as a director of community engagement for the nonprofit Edge NJ in Parsippany gives her insight into the mental health and other needs of vulnerable, low-income people often found in Dover. Mendez said she is proud of her accomplishments but looks forward to the day when "the fact that I was the first is not a big deal." Her motivation to run for council starts with "I love Dover." "Dover is my adopted hometown," she said. "Serving in an elected office, I feel, is my way of giving back to a town that has given me so much in this chapter of my life. And quite frankly, I think that we have work to do in Dover, and I think that we can do better than we are doing, and I think that I am the right person to contribute to the team that moves us forward." Toro also loves her adopted hometown and launched her professional career after beginning studies for business administration at the former Dover Business College. She opened Toro Taxes on Blackwell Street in 2018. Her campaign lists accomplishments, including launching a senior care program and supporting a community and immigration programs initiative. Toro acknowledges it's been a turbulent first term while supporting the mayor as he has taken controversial steps in his return to office, including a recent decision to hold council meetings virtually without public attendance, seeking to sidestep out-of-town activists who have disrupted meetings in recent months. Mendez and others have accused her of being "simply a puppet" for Dodd. But Toro says she is up to taking some criticism in exchange for the chance to serve the community. "I am a strong woman," she said. "Politics can be intimidating, for women more than men. But I am strong. And I am prepared for this." Dover's Democratic primary in Ward 2 features a rematch between first-term incumbent Sergio Rodriguez against Judith Rugg, whom he unseated in the 2023 primary by 114 votes. Rodriguez's first term is well-documented as he accumulated multiple assault charges resulting from confrontations with men downtown whom he accused of drinking alcohol in downtown public spaces. His next court date to answer those charges is scheduled for June 16. The resulting controversy has generated frequent public calls for Rodriguez to resign, but with Dodd's support, he's eager to tackle a second term. The biggest misconception about his actions and methods, Rodriguez said in a Daily Record interview, is that he is "extremely, sometimes to a fault, transparent." "That comes out in various ways," said Rodriguez, 30, who owns a small business consulting and social media service. "And one of the ways that comes out is through my social media. And so where some people see that as an effort to try to make myself this hotshot politician that cares about his public image and only that, that's the misconception that can sometimes be made if you don't know me. But if anybody has followed me before my political career, they knew I was very vocal on social media. That's where my push comes from, from trying to give out as much information as possible." He brought up the issue of public drinking as an example, saying one of his first-term accomplishments was "shining a huge spotlight on that, to the point where it made everyone else act. It made our law enforcement act. It made our community leaders act. It made our elected officials act." Rugg, a career nurse who came into office with former Mayor Carolyn Blackman in 2019, lost her seat in 2023 as Dodd's "Rescue Dover" ticket, including Rodriguez, swept into office. Pleas from her Ward 2 neighbors to run again, she said, pushed her back into the race. "I believe in the truth," she said. "We don't know how this will turn out, but he was not being challenged on the ballot, and I thought that was wrong." Her top priority back in office would be healthcare. "We need a health department that can meet the needs of our elderly residents, of our uninsured residents, and of our newly arrived residents," she said. "As a nurse, I know how important this is. I served on the council during COVID and witnessed firsthand how devastating the pandemic was for Dover." Other priorities for Rugg would be addressing the need for affordable housing and improving communication between Town Hall and the residents. Another contentious ward rematch is unfolding among Republicans in Ward 6 of Rockaway Township, where incumbent Rachel Brookes is once again facing Tucker Kelley, whom she unseated from the council in 2021 by 96 votes. Brookes is running for re-election with a list of accomplishments and leaning into Kelley's reputation as a controversial figure around town, known for filing frequent OPRA requests and filing lawsuits to uncover what he has seen over the years as corruption and fiscal mismanagement by the governing body. A mother of four boys, marketing director for Crunch Fitness and a former board of education member, Brookes, 43, is seeking a second term. Her campaign literature touts first-term accomplishments, including increased hiring, funding and resources for first responders, ensuring the safety of recreational fields and "open communication and strong collaboration with residents, local groups, schools, and township departments." Kelley, 55, is a lifelong Rockaway Township resident who lives with his wife and daughter in the Lake Telemark section. A real estate entrepreneur, emission-control expert and construction-excavation business owner, he also owns and rents multiple commercial and residential properties throughout town. "I have a background in contract negotiations, municipal budgets as well as a large skill set in multiple trades and property management," he said. Brookes said she resigned from the school board to run for council against Kelley because she was "disheartened" by his behavior on the council. "We became an embarrassment," she told the Daily Record. "I had to make a choice, I felt no one else would do it, and decided to run for that seat." Even out of office, she said, he continues to harass township employees and file costly lawsuits against the town. "He's not a collaborative communicator," she continued. "He doesn't work well with others." Kelley doesn't apologize for his methods in a town he feels burdens residents with tactics that obstruct transparency and fiscal responsibility, stating, "I'm not afraid to stand up." "I am somebody who doesn't welcome the status quo," he said. "It's so costly, it's not effective. It's only helping the few rather than the many." Kelley also disputed Brooke's leadership in the accomplishments she is taking credit for in her campaign, adding she voted to raise council's and the mayor's salaries, while he donated his salary while in office to the Rockaway Township Volunteer Fire Company. Should he win, Kelley says his priorities would include lowering taxes for the next budget cycle, addressing necessary infrastructure upgrades, creating an economic committee to prepare for fiscal issues and increasing the morale of police officers and municipal employees. Both claim a record of fiscal stewardship and holding down tax increases. Kelley calculates he reduced the town's tax burden by $1.5 million through wasteful spending cuts during his term. The two are also at odds over social issues, with Kelley accusing Brookes of supporting a "woke" agenda during her time on the school board. "It's time to stop using our children as pawns in political games," he said. "I strongly oppose the radical woke agendas Rachael supported, such as transgender Policy 5756 (the state's "transgender student guidance" for districts), men participating in female sports and removing Columbus Day from our township calendars." "One of the biggest things is he likes to go on and on about woke agendas," Brookes said. "To me, that's just nonsense. It's just using hot words to be divisive, to divide the community, to not really talk about the needs of our evolving community." "We've increased our first responders," Brookes said. "We have added positions to our police department to hire officers to combat overtime and fatigue of our officers. We've really done a lot of work with the community." Kelley says the biggest misconception among his critics is his overlooking his passion for Rockaway Township and "community." "When I see my tax dollars wrongfully being misplaced to projects that benefit a very few amount of people, including some of our elected officials and their family, rather than the many, it makes me look into areas or topics and try to find a better way of directing our monies to serve the many," he said. Polls on primary day will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The early-voting period began June 3 and runs through June 8. May 20 was the deadline to register for the primary. Applications for mail-in ballots must be received by 3 p.m. on June 9. Mail-in ballots must be received by the Post Office by June 10. County clerks must certify election results by June 23. The 2025 general election takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 14. This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Morris County NJ has few wild ward races in June 10 primary
