Latest news with #BidenHealth
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 days ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Biden Optimistic After Cancer Diagnosis
Former US President Joe Biden told reporters Friday he was feeling 'optimistic' about the future after delivering his first public remarks since revealing he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer. 'Well, the prognosis is good. You know, we're working on everything. It's moving along. So, I feel good,' Biden, 82, said after an event in Delaware belatedly marking Monday's Memorial Day federal holiday. Biden's office announced earlier this month he is battling prostate cancer with a Gleason score of nine, which places him in the most severe category. The veteran Democrat told reporters he had decided on a treatment regime, adding that 'the expectation is, we're going to be able to beat this.' 'It's not in any organ, my bones are strong, it hasn't penetrated. So I'm feeling good,' he said. The mental and physical health of the former president, the oldest person ever to hold the office, was a dominant issue in the 2024 election. After a disastrous debate performance against Trump, Biden ended his campaign for a second term. When Biden's office announced his diagnosis, they said the cancer had spread to his bones. But Biden told reporters: 'We're all optimistic about the diagnosis. As a matter of fact, one of the leading surgeons in the world is working with me.' The political row over Biden's aborted candidacy has become a major scandal since the release of the book 'Original Sin' -- which alleges that Biden's White House covered up his cognitive decline while he was in office. The ex-president was asked about the controversy and responded with sarcasm, joking that 'I'm mentally incompetent and I can't walk.' He said he had no regrets about initially running for a second term, and that his Democratic critics could have challenged him but chose not to 'because I'd have beaten them.' In earlier formal remarks in New Castle, Delaware, Biden spoke of his presidency as his greatest honor, and called for better treatment of veterans. But he saved his most poignant comments to mark the 10th anniversary on May 30 of his son, National Guard veteran Beau Biden, dying of brain cancer at the age of 46. 'For the Bidens, this day is the 10th anniversary, the loss of my son Beau, who spent a year in Iraq,' said Biden, who had attended a memorial service for his son earlier in the day. 'And, to be honest, it's a hard day.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Biden's Granddaughter Tears Into ‘Irresponsible' Jake Tapper
Joe Biden's eldest granddaughter lashed out at the authors of a new book about his health and mental capacity, saying the tome amounted to 'political fairy smut.' Naomi Biden, the daughter of Hunter Biden and his first wife, said in an X post she obtained an advance copy of CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson's book Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, and claimed the book was tantamount to fiction. 'If anyone is curious for a review from someone who lived it first-hand: this book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class,' Naomi wrote on X. 'The ones who rarely enter the arena, but profit from the spectacle of those that do. Put simply, it amounts to a bunch of unoriginal, uninspired lies written by irresponsible self promoting journalists out to make a quick buck.' A representative for the authors declined to comment. The book is based on more than 200 interviews, most of which were conducted after the 2024 election, and featured multiple aides, strategists, and Cabinet secretaries sharing their experiences with Biden throughout his presidency. The blast came a day before the book's May 20 release date, and one day after Biden's office disclosed he has an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Biden, 82, broke his silence on the diagnosis Monday, saying that he and his wife Jill Biden 'learned that we are strongest in the broken places. 'Thank you for lifting us up with love and support,' he added. Naomi said Tapper and Thompson's book relies on 'unnamed, anonymous sources pushing a self-serving false narrative that absolves them of any responsibility for our current national nightmare.' 'All of this at the expense of a man so completely good and honest that it is impossible for these people to ever understand the why or how of it all,' she wrote. 'There are real stories to be told and one day they will be. I suspect history will reward the truth.' Representatives for Joe Biden declined to comment. Naomi Biden did not respond to the Daily Beast's inquiry. Excerpts of the book published in The New Yorker included on-record quotes from multiple people who said they either bore witness to Biden's cognitive issues or lamented the narrative's effect on the 2024 election. Kamala Harris' campaign manager David Plouffe claimed Biden 'totally f---ed us' by running again and then waiting to drop out of the race, compressing the timeline for a new candidate to emerge. The authors also revealed how actor George Clooney was alarmed when Biden didn't appear to recognize him at a June fundraiser last year, ascribing direct quotes to him and recounting his emotions as he spoke to Biden. Clooney would later write a New York Times op-ed urging Biden to drop out of the race. A Biden spokesperson defended Biden to The New Yorker: "No one has been able to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite—he was a very effective president."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
MAGA Calls for the Head of Biden's White House Doctor
The MAGA faithful are accusing Joe Biden's White House physician of concealing the former president's prostate cancer diagnosis, and they are demanding that he be subpoenaed. Dr. Kevin O'Connor, an osteopath, attested to Biden's health for more than a decade as his physician. He said in February 2024 that the then-president was a 'healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.' Biden, now 82, is now fighting for his life with Stage 4 prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. The former president's office said he was diagnosed after a small nodule was found in his prostate during a routine physical exam this month. His late-stage prognosis, as well as a spate of mental lapses in his final year in office, has led MAGA to allege that O'Connor intentionally concealed Biden's health concerns. President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, said Tuesday that House Speaker Mike Johnson should 'immediately subpoena' O'Connor. 'Ask if he ever did a cancer screening,' Flynn posted on X. 'When he pleads the 5th or mentions 'executive privilege'—that's all you need to know.' MAGA commentator Benny Johnson described the situation as the 'most dangerous cover-up in the history of the presidency.' 'You're telling me that the best doctors and testing on earth did not *find* Biden's cancer in all these years of testing?' he questioned on X. 'Was every medical report a lie? For how long? Bulls--t... They knew. They lied. They hid it. For power. People need to be held accountable for this. Evil.' A spokesperson for the Biden family did not respond to emailed questions sent by the Daily Beast. O'Connor is a retired U.S. Army colonel who joined the White House's medical team during the Bush administration. He was appointed to be Biden's physician in 2009, when he was vice president, and O'Connor worked with the Biden family during Beau Biden's battle with brain cancer. He is a doctor of osteopathic medicine, meaning he is not an MD. Osteopaths have a full scope of practice in the United States but cannot prescribe medication or perform surgery in Australia or the United Kingdom. Both Trump's current and former White House physicians are osteopaths. Trump's first-term physician, now-Rep. Ronny Jackson, was criticized by Democrats for fawning over the president in medical assessments, including stating in 2018 that Trump had 'incredibly good genes' and could live to 200 if he had a better diet. Jackson did not hold back when criticizing his successor this week. 'This is either outright MEDICAL MALPRACTICE or a COVER-UP—plain and simple!' he posted to X. 'The White House medical team is the BEST in the world, and the blame lies squarely on Joe Biden's personal doctor—a known liar: Dr. Kevin O'Connor.' On Fox News, Jackson told Sean Hannity, 'I want to know, Sean, did he get diagnosed years ago, and have they been treating this behind the scenes without us knowing about this? That's a distinct possibility.' Jackson, 58, was demoted from being a real admiral to a captain in the U.S. Navy in 2022 after a Department of Defense probe found substantiated evidence of misconduct during his tenure as Trump's physician, which included allegations he made sexual comments about a subordinate and inappropriately drank alcohol with subordinates. He no longer has an active civilian medical license, but he still delivered care to Trump after he survived an assassination attempt last summer. Republican skepticism of O'Connor goes back years, partly because he has been described as a longtime friend of the Biden family. Even before Biden revealed his cancer diagnosis, there had been growing attention on his health after excerpts of Original Sin, a book that went on sale Tuesday, alleged his cognitive abilities had slipped significantly by 2024 and that the media failed to cover it adequately. The latest questioning of O'Connor's professionalism came from the very top of MAGA. 'I think that if you take a look, it's the same doctor that said that Joe was cognitively fine, there was nothing wrong with him,' Trump said Monday. 'If it's the same doctor, he said there was nothing wrong there. That's been proven to be a sad situation.' The president added, 'I think the doctor said he's just fine, and it's turned out that's not so. It's very dangerous. This is dangerous for our country. Look at the mess we are in.' Trump said he doubts Biden's cancer snuck past the doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Instead, he suggested it was O'Connor's negligence or sneakiness. 'Why did it take so long? I mean, this takes a long time. It can take years to get to this level of danger,' Trump said of Biden's late-stage prognosis. 'It's a very, very sad situation. I feel very badly about it. And I think people should try and find out what happened.' Other conservatives have been more explicit in saying they want a head to roll for how Biden's health was managed in the White House. 'He needs to be brought in, he needs to be subpoenaed, and he needs to answer some of these questions,' Fox News pundit Jesse Watters said of O'Connor during his show Monday. 'Who knows if [Biden] even got tested. He was supposed to have had a full test a year ago, and they said there was no cancer detected. Well, we need to know exactly what tests they did.'
Arab News
3 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Biden says ‘I'm feeling good' after cancer diagnosis
WILMINGTON, United States: Former US President Joe Biden told reporters Friday he was feeling 'optimistic' about the future after delivering his first public remarks since revealing he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer. 'Well, the prognosis is good. You know, we're working on everything. It's moving along. So, I feel good,' Biden, 82, said after an event in Delaware belatedly marking Monday's Memorial Day federal holiday. Biden's office announced earlier this month he is battling prostate cancer with a Gleason score of nine, which places him in the most severe category. The veteran Democrat told reporters he had decided on a treatment regime, adding that 'the expectation is, we're going to be able to beat this.' 'It's not in any organ, my bones are strong, it hasn't penetrated. So I'm feeling good,' he said. The mental and physical health of the former president, the oldest person ever to hold the office, was a dominant issue in the 2024 election. After a disastrous debate performance against Trump, Biden ended his campaign for a second term. When Biden's office announced his diagnosis, they said the cancer had spread to his bones. But Biden told reporters: 'We're all optimistic about the diagnosis. As a matter of fact, one of the leading surgeons in the world is working with me.' The political row over Biden's aborted candidacy has become a major scandal since the release of the book 'Original Sin' — which alleges that Biden's White House covered up his cognitive decline while he was in office. The ex-president was asked about the controversy and responded with sarcasm, joking that 'I'm mentally incompetent and I can't walk.' He said he had no regrets about initially running for a second term, and that his Democratic critics could have challenged him but chose not to 'because I'd have beaten them.' In earlier formal remarks in New Castle, Delaware, Biden spoke of his presidency as his greatest honor, and called for better treatment of veterans. But he saved his most poignant comments to mark the 10th anniversary on May 30 of his son, National Guard veteran Beau Biden, dying of brain cancer at the age of 46. 'For the Bidens, this day is the 10th anniversary, the loss of my son Beau, who spent a year in Iraq,' said Biden, who had attended a memorial service for his son earlier in the day. 'And, to be honest, it's a hard day.'
Fox News
4 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Lone Biden official breaks silence on cognitive decline as cabinet stays mute
Only a single member of former President Joe Biden's cabinet responded to a massive outreach effort from Fox News Digital asking if the more than two dozen cabinet-level officials stood by previous remarks that Biden was mentally and physically fit to serve as president. And even that lone statement, from former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, skirted addressing head-on whether he had witnessed instances of Biden's now widely acknowledged cognitive issues. "I met with President Biden when needed to make important decisions and to execute with my team at HHS," Becerra said. "It's clear the President was getting older, but he made the mission clear: run the largest health agency in the world, expand care to millions more Americans than ever before, negotiate down the cost of prescription drugs, and pull us out of a world-wide pandemic. And we delivered." Roughly four months after Biden's Oval Office exit, a handful of political books detailing the 2024 campaign and Biden administration have hit store shelves and are painting a bleak picture of Biden's health. Adding fuel to the fire, audio recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur showed the former president tripping over his words, slurring sentences, taking long pauses between answers and struggling to remember key moments in his life, including the year his son Beau died of cancer. Fox News Digital has written extensively dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign about Biden's cognitive decline and his inner circle's role in covering it up. Becerra's statement stood in marked contrast to the silence emanating from the rest of his former colleagues. Fox News Digital reached out to 26 Biden administration officials with cabinet-level positions — from former Vice President Kamala Harris to former Chief of Staff Jeff Zients — asking whether they still believe that Biden was fit to serve as president, or whether they've had a change of heart amid the cascade of damning evidence and anecdotes portraying a mental decline. If a majority of those cabinet-level officials believed Biden to be unable to perform his duties, they could have attempted to remove him from office through the 25th Amendment. Instead, those officials repeatedly said at the time that Biden was competent and in command. That talking point hasn't abated among the former officials. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg weighed in on Biden's presidential health earlier in May during a town hall with veterans and military families in Iowa. When asked during the event whether Biden experienced cognitive decline, Buttigieg told reporters that "every time I needed something from him from the West Wing, I got it." "The time I worked closest with him in his final year was around the Baltimore bridge collapse," he added. "And what I can tell you is that the same president the world saw addressing that was the president I was in the Oval with, insisting that we do a good job, do right by Baltimore. And that was characteristic of my experience with him." Buttigieg did not elaborate when responding to a separate inquiry from Fox News Digital. Biden's office recently revealed that the former president was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer that had metastasized and was undergoing treatment. The diagnosis sparked an outpouring of well-wishes from political leaders across both aisles, and shock from some doctors who said such cancer should have been caught before it advanced and metastasized. None of Biden's annual physical health reports as president tested for prostate cancer, Fox News Digital previously reported, with a representative confirming Biden's last-known prostate blood test was conducted in 2014. The 2024 presidential debate between Biden and President Donald Trump opened the floodgates of criticism surrounding Biden's mental acuity after the 46th president's poor performance, which included Biden losing his train of thought and stumbling over his words. Concerns over Biden's mental acuity had simmered for years among conservatives, but it wasn't until the June 2024 presidential debate that traditional Democrat allies and media outlets began questioning Biden's health and openly called for him to drop out of the race. Despite mounting concerns, members of Biden's cabinet vowed he was of sound health and mind. Then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement in September 2024, for example, that he has "full confidence in President Biden's ability to carry out his job." "As I've said before, I come fully prepared for my meetings with President Biden, knowing his questions will be detail-oriented, probing, and exacting," he said. "In our exchanges, the President always draws upon our prior conversations and past events in analyzing the issues and reaching his conclusions." Conservatives in 2024 floated calling for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Biden, which would have required Harris and the majority of the cabinet to declare him unfit to lead. Harris and the cabinet did not take such steps during the administration, and instead defended his health. In July 2024, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo called Biden "one of the most accomplished presidents in American history and continues to effectively lead our country with a steady hand." "As someone who is actually in the room when the President meets with the cabinet and foreign leaders, I can tell you he is an incisive and extraordinary leader," Raimondo said at the time. Since Biden's exit from the White House in January, political journalists have published a handful of books arguing that, behind the scenes of the administration, staffers were concerned about Biden's health. "Biden's physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election," according to a new book written by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again." "Given Biden's age, (his physician Kevin O'Connor) also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery," the authors wrote. While another newly released book by longtime D.C. reporters Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, "Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House," investigated Biden's mental decline in the lead-up to the general election, calling him a "shell of himself." "All of them," Parnes told Vanity Fair in April of who in Biden's inner circle was most to blame for covering up his mental decline when he was in office. "It's pretty remarkable how they kept him very closed off," Parnes said. "He was a shell of himself. When he entered the White House, he was so, so different from the man who I covered as vice president, a guy who would hold court in the Naval Observatory with reporters until the wee hours." "We'd been watching Biden's decline for a long period of time and, honestly, thought he had lost his fastball some when he was running in 2020," Allen added of Biden's mental decline. "And it was still so shocking to see the leader of the free world so bereft of coherent thought." Earlier in May, hours of Biden's October 2023 interview with Hur's office were released to the public and underscored the president's apparent mental decline from his days as a senator from Delaware. Hur led an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents after Biden's departure as vice president during the Obama administration. The then-special counsel announced in February 2024 he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, saying Biden is "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Hur came under fire from Biden, Harris and other Democrats in 2024 for suggesting in the report that Biden could not remember when his son Beau died. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015. In February 2024, following the release of the report, Biden shot back at Hur: "There's some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events. There's even a reference that I don't remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that?" Harris called the report "gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate." The recently released audio recordings show it was Biden who brought up his son and could not remember when Beau died. "So, during this time when you were living at Chain Bridge Road and there were documents relating to the Penn Biden Center, or the Biden Institute, or the Cancer Moonshot or your book, where did you keep papers that related to those things that you were actively working on?" Hur asked Biden in the interview. "Well, um … I, I, I, I, I don't know. This is, what, 2017, 2018, that area?" Biden responded. "Yes, sir," Hur said. "Remember, in this timeframe, my son is either been deployed or is dying, and, and so it was and by the way, there were still a lot of people at the time when I got out of the Senate that were encouraging me to run in this period, except the president," Biden continued. "I'm not — and not a mean thing to say. He just thought that she (Hillary Clinton) had a better shot of winning the presidency than I did. And so I hadn't, I hadn't, at this point — even though I'm at Penn, I hadn't walked away from the idea that I may run for office again. But if I ran again, I'd be running for president. And, and so what was happening, though — what month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30th." Others present during the interview responded that Beau Biden died in 2015. Trump has called an alleged cover-up of Biden's health a "scandal" and has argued that White House staffers were controlling the administration through the use of an autopen. Autopen signatures are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. The conservative Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration's use of an autopen earlier in 2025 and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden's signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature. "Whoever had control of the 'AUTOPEN' is looking to be a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment," Trump posted to Truth Social in May.
