President Donald Trump spoke candidly about former President Joe Biden’s recent prostate cancer diagnosis on Monday, expressing sympathy while also suggesting that the situation should be investigated.
Biden’s team announced the diagnosis on Sunday afternoon, saying that the former statesman ‘was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.’
‘On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,’ the statement added.
‘While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,’ Biden’s team concluded. ‘The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.’
Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Trump called the news ‘very sad, actually.’
‘I’m surprised that…you know, the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine [sic], that’s a long time,’ Trump said. ‘I just had my physical… We had the doctors at the White House and over at Walter Reed, which is a fantastic hospital. I did a very complete physical, including cognitive tests.’
Trump also referenced Biden’s cognitive decline during his presidency, stating that ‘anybody running for president should take a cognitive test.’
‘They say it’s unconstitutional. But I would say in that particular case, having a cognitive test wouldn’t be so bad,’ the Republican said.
Trump also posited that the general public ‘wasn’t informed’ about Biden’s medical situation, and suggested that the situation should be investigated.
‘I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor if it’s the same, or even if it’s two separate doctors,’ Trump said. ‘Why wasn’t the cognitive ability, why wasn’t that discussed? And I think the doctor said he’s just fine. And it’s turned out that’s not so. It’s very dangerous.’
The president concluded by saying that the cancer diagnosis is ‘a very, very sad situation and I feel very badly about it.’
‘I think people should try and find out what happened, because I’ll tell you….I don’t know if it had anything to do with the hospital,’ Trump added. ‘Walter Reed is really good. There’s some of the best doctors I’ve ever seen.’
‘Somebody is not telling the facts,’ he concluded. ‘It’s a big problem.’
News of Biden’s aggressive cancer diagnosis shocked the country over the weekend. After receiving bipartisan messages of sympathy, the 82-year-old thanked his supporters on social media on Monday.
‘Cancer touches us all,’ Biden wrote on X. ‘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.’