With his successor, Donald Trump, joining some who have suggested a cover-up, former US President Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis has reignited concerns about whether he misled the public about his health while in office.
President Trump questioned the timing of Biden’s advanced cancer diagnosis in remarks to reporters at the White House on Monday, as the former president’s physical and mental health during his presidency came under further scrutiny.
Trump said to reporters at the White House, “I’m surprised that the public wasn’t notified a long time ago.”
“What caused the lengthy wait? Years may pass before this degree of threat materializes,” Trump continued.
“Look, I feel terrible about it, and it’s a very sad scenario. In my opinion, people ought to make an effort to learn more about what transpired.
Additionally, Trump said that the medical professionals who had evaluated Biden during his tenure were “not telling the facts.”
“That is a significant issue,” he stated.
The former president was found to have an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, according to a statement released by Biden’s office on Sunday.
After experiencing “increasing urinary symptoms,” Biden was diagnosed on Friday, according to the statement, and he and his family were considering their choices for treatment.
According to the statement, doctors assigned Biden’s cancer a score of 9 on the Gleason classification system, making it one of the most aggressive types.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the average five-year survival rate for late-stage prostate cancer is 28%.
Earlier Monday, Biden thanked well-wishers for their encouraging and supportive remarks.
“Everyone is impacted by cancer,” Biden posted on social media.
“Jill and I have discovered that we are stronger in the damaged parts, much like a lot of you. We appreciate your love and support in keeping us up.
Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support. pic.twitter.com/oSS1vGIiwU
As the former president’s health was already coming under increased scrutiny due to the release of a new book that said his inner circle had concealed his physical and mental decline, Biden’s cancer diagnosis was announced.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson’s book Original Sin includes a number of incriminating details about Biden’s purported decline, such as the supposed event at a 2024 fundraiser where the then-president failed to recognize Hollywood actor George Clooney.
Trump linked the former president’s cancer to the alleged hiding of his mental acuity in his remarks regarding Biden’s diagnosis on Monday.
According to Trump, “if you look at it, it’s the same doctor who said Joe was cognitively fine, there was nothing wrong with him.”
He went on to say, “I think somebody is going to have to talk to his doctor because there are things going on that the public wasn’t informed of.”
Some medical professionals have openly questioned Biden’s office’s explanation of his cancer diagnosis, pointing out that the disease would have needed to spread over years.
In a post on X, pathologist Steven Quay, the CEO of the biopharmaceutical business Atossa Therapeutics, stated that even with the most aggressive form, it takes five to seven years without treatment before it spreads.
This patient’s initial diagnosis of metastatic illness in May 2025 would be considered malpractice. During his time in the White House, he most certainly had a prostate cancer diagnosis, but the American public was unaware of it.
According to Yale University radiology expert Howard P. Forman, it is “inconceivable” that Biden’s cancer was not discovered prior to his departure from office because a blood test called a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test would have found it.
Prior to this diagnosis, Gleason grade 9 would have had an elevated PSA level for a while. Additionally, he must have had multiple PSA tests in the past. Forman wrote, “This is strange,” in a post on X.
Although Biden has “very likely” had cancer for years, it’s plausible that he was not given a PSA test, according to Daniel W. Lin, a prostate cancer specialist at UW Medicine in Washington state.
“Many medical groups do not recommend PSA testing after the ages of 70 or 75, although some do so based on life expectancy or state of health rather than age cut-points,” Lin told Al Jazeera, citing screening concerns around the use of PSA.
According to Lin, Biden might possibly have a less common type of cancer that the test is unable to identify.
Although less frequent, this circumstance is not regarded as extremely uncommon. Furthermore, when this happens, it usually happens with high-grade malignancies, like the one that former President Biden had,” he added.
“He does not fit into this category when playing the odds, but it can happen.”