Former United States President, Joe Biden, has disclosed that he would not have sought re-election in 2024 if he had known about his cancer diagnosis at the time.
Biden also played down the controversy surrounding his poor performance during the June 2024 presidential debate against then-Republican candidate Donald Trump, insisting that the incident was not as consequential as widely portrayed.
The former president made the revelations during an interview with PEOPLE magazine ahead of the release of his upcoming presidential memoir, Promise Me, America.
Biden’s performance during the June 2024 debate, where he struggled to communicate his thoughts and appeared visibly exhausted, sparked widespread concerns about his age and fitness for another four-year term.
The controversy intensified pressure from Democratic Party members, eventually forcing him to withdraw from the presidential race and endorse his then-Vice President, Kamala Harris, just 107 days before the election.
However, Biden maintained that his debate performance did not significantly affect his political standing.
“Look, I don’t know anybody who hasn’t made a mistake in a debate. To me, it was not very consequential. First of all, I thought there’d be another debate, which there wasn’t. But notwithstanding the fact that there wasn’t another debate, it didn’t disturb me because it wasn’t consequential,” he said.
Four months after leaving the White House, Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
Reflecting on the diagnosis, the former president acknowledged that he had experienced periods of feeling unwell before discovering the illness but insisted that he was unaware he had cancer while pursuing re-election.
He said knowing about the disease earlier would have changed his decision to remain in the presidential race.
“If I had known that I was feeling lousy because I had cancer, I would have resigned. I would’ve not gone forward, because I don’t think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running for (president),” Biden explained.
He, however, maintained that based on his assessment at the time, he believed he remained the most qualified person to lead the country.
“But that wasn’t the case … I believe that on an objective basis, I was the best-equipped person to do the job,” he added.
Biden also rejected suggestions that his administration deliberately concealed information about his health while he was in office.
According to him, his team made the cancer diagnosis public promptly after receiving confirmation of his condition.
He further stressed the importance of transparency about the health challenges of political leaders, noting that such openness could encourage ordinary people facing similar medical conditions.
Meanwhile, Biden disclosed that his ongoing cancer treatment would limit his ability to participate in extensive promotional activities ahead of the release of Promise Me, America, scheduled for next Tuesday.
