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“Former U.S. President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his office said in a statement on Sunday. Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday after experiencing urinary symptoms, and he and his family are reviewing treatment options with doctors, according to the statement.” Reuters
“The timing of Biden's announcement, coupled with the way his handlers tried to cover up his health issues in the past, fueled speculation about how long he'd known about the cancer. People in both parties, whether they love Joe Biden or despise him, wondered whether the announcement was timed to change the subject after a week of reports about his physical and mental deterioration when he was president.” Axios
Here’s our previous coverage of Biden’s cognitive decline. The Flip Side
The left urges further investigation into how Biden’s decline was not reported earlier.
“Biden is owed respect for his decades of public service. But the office he held must be respected, too, and this is why, despite his latest malady, the public conversation must continue about his — and all other presidents’ — fitness for office. The U.S. presidency is the biggest, most taxing job there is, demanding an almost superhuman level of basic intelligence, clear thinking and wisdom…
“It now seems that, for a considerable time, Biden might have lacked the stamina and cognitive capacity the job demands — and that his family and closest aides concealed this from the public. Their apparent decision to put personal loyalties ahead of their duty to the country must be reckoned with. A legal mechanism should be considered to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post
“Opinion surveys from 2021 onward showed that a growing majority of voters understood that the president was aging, that he was declining, and that he was not fit to serve two terms as president… But the Biden White House [went] on offense. Speaking out about Biden could mean career suicide…
“Biden and those closest to him used tactics that can only be described as Trumpian—denying any and all accusations, attacking the credibility of anyone who dared make them, and attempting to concoct an elaborate fantasy where an incompetent man was, in fact, a figure of world historical greatness. The result was an epic disaster: We are living under an authoritarian regime thanks to Biden and his craven, malicious loyalists.”
Alex Shephard, New Republic
Some argue, “In this moment, Biden deserves the dignity and the privacy afforded to anyone facing a cancer diagnosis. Leave him and his family alone to wage the fight of their lives. Journalists will continue to ask questions as they should, but this need not become a national obsession…
“Meanwhile, Americans who care about democracy are facing the fight of their lives with a president now occupying the White House who cares little about the Constitution and the rule of law. The road ahead for this country is perilous. Looking in the rearview mirror is a necessary caution, but fixating obsessively on the stuff over your shoulder does not get you anywhere safely.”
Michele Norris, MSNBC
The right urges Biden to release more information about his medical history.
The right urges Biden to release more information about his medical history.
“[Biden’s diagnosis] was highly unlikely to have been discovered only last week. ‘He did not develop it in the last 100, 200 days,’ said Dr. Zeke Emanuel, a former adviser in the Obama administration… Urologist Dr. David Shusterman agrees. ‘The fact that we just find it at a Gleason nine is just pretty much unheard of in this day and age of medicine,’ he said…
“Joe Biden and his family deserve our sympathy, but not the benefit of the doubt. It is only judicious to observe circumspection when evaluating even superficially truthful claims promulgated by Biden and his handlers, particularly given the degree to which they have proven that their willingness to mislead the public is a reflex.”
Noah Rothman, National Review
“Mr. Biden owes the public more information, given that he left office only 120 days ago, after telling voters he was fit to stay through 2029 and age 86… Had he remained in the race and won, the country would now be contemplating a President Kamala Harris without having had the election choice…
“President Trump is 78, and he has received the PSA test as recently as last month, with the results disclosed by the White House. Did Mr. Biden discuss the PSA and decline it? If so, were his physicians OK with that? ‘Fit for duty,’ his doctor certified in February 2024… The public-spirited thing for Mr. Biden to do is to clarify the details of his disease history and PSA choices.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“‘Original Sin’ somehow manages to skip over the press’s own omertà when it came to Biden’s failing health. Tapper, one of the authors, was among those who berated anyone who questioned Biden’s fitness for office. The excuse: No one was willing to talk until after the election. But hard stories are hard for a reason, and few in the press made this a cause until late in Biden’s term…
“Democrats now argue we should ignore the coverup because it’s old news; they lost, let’s move on. But let’s not forget that they had every intention of using it to win. And had they pulled it off, the country could at this moment be coping with a constitutional crisis (were Biden incapacitated and his inner cabal unwilling to give up power), or saddled with Kamala Harris if Biden stepped down. The country deserves the truth.”
Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal
