Former President Obama on Sunday responded to news of former President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis by expressing confidence in his former vice president’s “trademark resolve and grace.”
He also pointed to the work Biden has done to advance cancer research.
“Michelle and I are thinking of the entire Biden family,” Obama wrote in a post on the social platform X.
“Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace,” he continued.
“We pray for a fast and full recovery,” he added.
Biden led the Obama administration’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, which aimed to accelerate cancer research, improve prevention and treatment strategies, foster greater collaboration in the medical research space and improve access to care.
Biden relaunched the initiative during his term as president.
The message comes shortly after Biden’s spokesperson announced the “aggressive” cancer diagnosis.
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” the statement from Biden’s personal office read.
“On Friday he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” it continued.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
Ex-Obama aide admits he held back on criticizing Biden’s decline because he ‘wanted him to f—— win’
Jon Lovett claimed he withheld concerns about Biden’s competency to avoid his words being used ‘as a weapon’ against the former president
Ex-Obama aide and “Pod Save America” co-host Jon Lovett admitted on Jon Stewart’s “The Weekly Show” podcast that he withheld his concerns about President Joe Biden’s physical decline during the 2024 campaign.
Lovett told Stewart and his fellow “Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau that he didn’t want to publicly voice his concern over Biden’s declining health because he wanted him “to f—— win.”
“I remember feeling I want to talk about this as a huge liability. To talk about this is something Joe Biden can overcome, but I’m not going to go so far as to say, ‘I think Joe Biden must drop out. He is too old to be president,’” Lovett said on the podcast. “A, because I didn’t know exactly what was going on behind the scenes, but B, if Joe Biden is the candidate, I want him to f—— win.”
Lovett admitted that he withheld his concerns about Biden’s decline to avoid negatively impacting the president’s reelection campaign. ((Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media)(Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images))
Lovett said he was worried that expressing his concerns would be weaponized against Biden by political opponents.
He claimed he kept his concerns to himself to avoid “having the words we’re saying taken out of context and all of a sudden be part of the case against Joe Biden from the right — that would use any person criticizing Joe Biden from the left as a weapon against him.”
“So it was about being honest about Joe Biden’s age as a liability while knowing that if he is the nominee, I want to be clear that I thought it was important to make sure we did everything we could to reelect him,” Lovett claimed.
Jake Tapper’s new book “Original Sin” has sparked nationwide debate about Biden’s mental and physical health while serving as president. (Left: (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images), Right: (Screenshot/CNN))
CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson have recently drawn attention to Biden’s health while promoting their new book, “Original Sin,” which covered the former president’s decline and the alleged cover-up by his administration to keep it under wraps.
Lovett is featured in “Original Sin” in an anecdote where he and his “Pod Save America” co-hosts Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer met with Biden at the White House on April 26, 2024. The book described them as “deeply disturbed” after their discussions with Biden that night, with the authors describing the president as rambling and “incoherent.”
Biden’s cancer diagnosis renews transparency outcry; Trump claims cover-up
Former US president likely has had cancer for years, some doctors say.
Former United States President Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis has rekindled questions about whether he deceived the public about his health while in office, with his successor, Donald Trump, adding his voice to those suggesting a cover-up.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, President Trump cast doubt on the timing of Biden’s advanced cancer diagnosis amid renewed scrutiny of the former president’s physical and mental fitness during his tenure.
“I’m surprised that the public wasn’t notified a long time ago,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Why did it take so long? This takes a long time. It can take years to get this level of danger,” Trump added, referring to the advanced nature of Biden’s cancer.
“So, look, it’s a very sad situation, I feel very badly about it. And I think people should try and find out what happened.”
Trump also said that doctors who had examined Biden while in office were “not telling the facts”.
“That’s a big problem,” he said.
Biden’s office said in a statement on Sunday that the former president was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
The statement said Biden was diagnosed on Friday after experiencing “increasing urinary symptoms” and that he and his family were reviewing treatment options.
Doctors graded Biden’s cancer with a score of 9 under the Gleason classification system – which typically classifies prostate cancer between 6 and 10 – according to the statement, indicating it is among the most aggressive kinds.
Late-stage prostate cancer has an average five-year survival rate of 28 percent, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Biden earlier on Monday expressed gratitude to well-wishers for their words of support and encouragement.
“Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on social media.
“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.”
The news of Biden’s cancer diagnosis came as the former president’s health was already under renewed scrutiny ahead of the publication of a new book detailing the alleged cover-up of his physical and mental deterioration by his inner circle.
Original Sin, written by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson, contains various damning accounts of Biden’s alleged decline, including an incident in which the then-president was reportedly unable to recognise Hollywood actor George Clooney at a 2024 fundraiser.
In his comments on Biden’s diagnosis on Monday, Trump drew a link between the former president’s cancer and the alleged concealment of his mental acuity.
“If you take a look, it’s the same doctor that said Joe was cognitively fine, there was nothing wrong with him,” Trump said.
“There are things going on that the public wasn’t informed of, and I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor,” he added.
Some doctors have publicly questioned the account of Biden’s cancer diagnosis provided by his office, pointing out that such advanced cancer would have had to progress over a period of years.
“For even with the most aggressive form, it is a 5-7 year journey without treatment before it becomes metastatic,” Steven Quay, a pathologist who is the chief executive of biopharmaceutical company Atossa Therapeutics, said in a post on X.
“Meaning, it would be malpractice for this patient to show up and be first diagnosed with metastatic disease in May 2025. It is highly likely he was carrying a diagnosis of prostate cancer throughout his White House tenure and the American people were uninformed.”
Howard P Forman, a professor of radiology at Yale University, said it was “inconceivable” that Biden’s cancer was not detected before he left office, as it would have been picked up by a blood test known as a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.
“Gleason grade 9 would have had an elevated PSA level for some time before this diagnosis. And he must have had a PSA test numerous times before. This is odd,” Forman said in a post on X.
However, Peter Nelson, an oncologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, said it is possible for prostate cancer to develop and spread rapidly in a short period of time, though it is more common for it to remain localised without detection for years before progressing to other parts of the body.
“It is possible for prostate cancer to develop and then spread in a very short time span – by short, within one to two years,” Nelson told Al Jazeera.
“So, yes, it is credible that a man of his age and position could have his cancer develop and progress without detection. This would not be common, but definitely happens,” Nelson said.
Daniel W Lin, a prostate cancer expert at UW Medicine in Washington state, said that while Biden has “very likely” had cancer for years, it is possible he was not given a PSA test.
“There are screening controversies with the use of PSA, and many medical groups do not recommend PSA testing after 70 or 75 years of age, although others recommend based on life expectancy or state of health rather than age cut-points,” Lin told Al Jazeera.
Lin said it was also possible that Biden has a rarer form of cancer that is not detectable by the test.
“This situation is less common, but not considered overly rare. Additionally, when this situation occurs, it is more common in high-grade cancers, such as former President Biden’s case,” he said.
“Playing the odds, he does not fall into this category, however, it can definitely occur.”
Peter Black, director of the Vancouver Prostate Centre in Canada, said Biden’s cancer going undetected in tests would be his best guess for the apparently sudden diagnosis.
“My best guess is that he has had a PSA done every year for a long time because that is what you would expect for a US senator/vice president/president, and that he actually has an age-appropriate PSA that did not raise any alarms,” Black told Al Jazeera.
“A diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer is usually associated with a very high PSA, but in a small minority of patients, the PSA is actually normal,” he said.
Michelle Obama imagines hypothetical prospect of being single, staying at Airbnb CEO’s house, during podcast
Former first lady discusses Chesky’s home listing on Airbnb and notes being ‘invested’ in his love life
Former first lady Michelle Obama raised some eyebrows on her podcast when she marveled at the prospect of being a single woman with the opportunity to stay at the house of Airbnb’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky.
Chesky has opened his own home as an Airbnb, writing, “Starting today, my home is now on Airbnb (yes, this is my actual home and I’ll be there when guests are here).” He noted in the following thread that his house features amenities such as freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, a friendly golden retriever, and freshly brewed coffee. He also noted, “We will work out together and train until total muscle failure (after we’ve eaten lots of cookies).”
The offering is wildly popular, Chesky has noted, saying, “I had some weekends available in January, February and March, but they booked out even before I posted this. I’ll keep opening more weekends throughout the year.”
Michelle Obama speaks to the CEO and co-founder of Airbnb.
The former first lady hosted Chesky on her “IMO” podcast, noting to her brother and co-host Craig Robinson that she and former President Barack Obama regard the CEO as a close friend, “If I had a son, I would want my son to be Brian.”
As Michelle Obama greeted Chesky on Wednesday’s episode, she expressed her excitement.
“I usually don’t get to talk to you in an interview format, so let’s pretend like it’s just us at dinner somewhere with me, poking you and prodding you on how life is,” she said.
The conversation addressed Chesky’s routine for hosting guests, where he explained how he would prepare dinner for them on the first night of their stay. When he mentioned his much-touted cookies, Mrs. Obama asked why she had not had them yet. Chesky answered that she would need to book a stay at his Airbnb to try them herself.
The Airbnb CEO went on to note that his guests have all been great so far, but noted one went to great lengths to have an opportunity to stay with him.
“I have to say, Brian, if I’m a single girl out there, and I find out that Brian Chesky is single, and I can, like, stay in his house, have you ever -”
“Here she goes,” Robinson said. “Right to the relationship. Brian, you don’t have to feel pressure.”
“We’ve never talked about this,” the former first lady said.
“He just got here!” Robinson replied.
Chesky noted, “Her and her husband have tried to set me up before.”
“I’m very invested in Brian’s love life,” Mrs. Obama agreed.
When asked by Robinson about Barack Obama’s efforts to help with matchmaking for Chesky, the CEO was slightly coy. He said that it “remains to be seen” whether the former president is good at making love connections.
However, Chesky claimed Barack Obama is “definitely very invested, and he’s provided a lot of relationship advice to me, actually.”
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