Biden pushes back on claims he knew of cancer diagnosis before entering 2024 race

Former US President Joe Biden, who is battling prostate cancer, pushed back against allegations that he entered the 2024 presidential race knowing of his diagnosis.

In an interview with People magazine published Wednesday (local time), Biden said he would have stepped aside had he known his health was being compromised by cancer, according to Yonhap.

"Because I didn't think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running for president," he said. "But that wasn't the reality. I believe, objectively, I was the most qualified person to do that job."

Biden disclosed in May last year — four months after leaving office — that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

Some have raised allegations that he concealed the diagnosis while still in office.

"Elected officials tend to hide bad news," Biden said. "I didn't do that." Asked whether the cancer may have weighed on his ability to carry out his duties as president, he said, "I didn't feel that way," adding that he did not believe it interfered with his work in any way.

Biden drew widespread attention during a June 28, 2024, debate against Donald Trump, when he appeared visibly disoriented — stumbling over words and making remarks that seemed disconnected from the topic at hand.

Biden said of that performance, "Nobody's gone through a debate without making a mistake," adding that it was "not a very big deal" to him. He said he had expected a follow-up debate that never materialized, and went on to say that he was not troubled by the episode because he did not consider it significant.

Biden also renewed his criticism of Trump, saying he found Trump's plan to demolish the East Wing of the White House and build a large banquet hall "as distasteful as hanging gold bars on the walls of the White House and the Oval Office." He called it "an attempt to build a monument to himself."

Biden had already taken direct aim at Trump

US President Donald Trump and former US President Joe Biden. [Getty Images]

Biden had previously taken direct aim at Trump as well.

According to the Associated Press on Monday (local time), Biden criticized Trump in his memoir "Promise Me, America," excerpts of which were published in The Atlantic, saying Trump's administration had caused serious harm to the United States and the world by "tearing down institutions and fanning the flames of hate."

Biden said the "lies" Trump spread for years about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot — which followed Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election — "should never be forgotten and will follow him to his grave."

Biden said the riot was "led by Donald Trump," whose goal "was to hold onto power even though the American people had voted to remove him."

Biden also criticized Trump's decision, in his second term, to pardon more than 1,500 people involved in the riot, saying "the mob was not a peaceful protest."

yul@heraldcorp.com