Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer which has metastasized to the bone, a spokesperson from his personal office said Sunday. While the cancer has a Gleason score of nine, indicating a high level of risk, the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive and treatments are available for the former president.
Prostate cancer is common in older men, with approximately one out of eight men being diagnosed during their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. The diagnosis coincides with the release of several books about Biden's administration, some of which raise questions about his cognitive abilities, leaving some wondering whether Biden may have had cancer while in office.
Voices on the left focused mainly on the next steps for the former president and chastised sensationalism around the announcement, while some voices on the right were suspicious of the timing of the diagnosis.
The Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) posted an opinion which read, “It was bad enough that his key aides were trying to conceal his physical and mental decline from voters at a time when he still planned to run for reelection at age 82 and serve until age 86. But if Biden had cancer on top of it all and either did not know, because his doctor failed to perform a basic test, or did know and did not reveal it to the public, it seems absolutely astonishing.”
Patti Davis, Ronald Reagan’s daughter, wrote in the New York Times Opinion (Left), “Coming at the end of Mr. Biden’s public service, these issues run the risk of overshadowing his accomplishments. But people’s life stories are complex. Mr. Biden has an opportunity now to add another chapter to his biography and to his legacy. He can do that by lowering his guard, by sharing with us not only what it says on his medical chart but also how it feels to hear it, by talking openly about what it feels like to contemplate the end that comes for us all.”
A writer for The Free Press (Lean Right) argued, “Sure, maybe Biden is among the rare men whose metastatic prostate cancer came on suddenly. But given his track record, how believable is that? The skepticism of not just Clay Travis and his ilk, but millions of Americans tired of being deceived by the former president, is more than justified.”
A writer for AlterNet (Left) wrote, “When the news of President Biden’s aggressive form of prostate cancer broke, it could have been a teaching moment, an opportunity for the media to educate Americans about prostate cancer and the confusing, conflicting guidelines on PSA screening via an annual blood test… But when the Biden cancer story broke, our corporate media was already swirling in sensationalism.”
