Former President Joe Biden is pushing back against accusations that he concealed his aggressive stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis during his time in the White House, telling People magazine he would have abandoned his reelection bid had he known about the illness sooner.
The interview, published Wednesday, comes as Biden prepares to release his memoir, Promise Me, America, due from Hachette Book Group on Nov. 17. In the conversation, Biden addressed what he called the public's "cynical twist" on his diagnosis—a reference to claims that he hid his condition from voters while serving as commander-in-chief.
"A lot of people do that," Biden said of the rumors. "They hide bad news from the public if they're elected officials. I didn't do that. We let the public know when I found out, when I knew what was going on."
He stressed that transparency about health matters is critical for national leaders, arguing it helps Americans see that their president faces the same struggles they do. "I wasn't hiding it at all," he repeated.
Biden also insisted the undiagnosed cancer never impaired his ability to govern. "First of all, I never felt the toll," he said, dismissing comparisons to Harry Truman's description of the presidency as the hardest job in the world. "I didn't find it that way."
Had the condition left him "feeling lousy," Biden said he 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]," he explained. "But that wasn't the case … I believe that on an objective basis, I was the best-equipped person to do the job."
Biden's health and age were constant sources of scrutiny throughout his term. At just over 78 when inaugurated, he was the oldest person elected to the Oval Office until President Trump won again in 2024 at 78 years and seven months. Criticism of Biden's cognitive fitness mounted, and allies pressured him to exit the race. In July 2024, then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden's decision to step aside as the expected Democratic nominee had "nothing to do with his health," rejecting any suggestion of a cover-up.
The former president's personal office revealed in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, though doctors described it as "hormone sensitive." Based on that timeline, the diagnosis would have been made public four months into a hypothetical second term had Biden stayed in the race and defeated Trump.
Biden finished his treatment in October 2025, saying in September that his radiation therapy "worked as intended" and that he continued working on his memoir. On Sunday, he announced he was scaling back events to promote the book because of the cancer. He added that the illness had not stopped him from working but "sometimes" slowed him down.
As Biden makes the rounds to promote his book, he has also downplayed his shaky debate performance and revealed a letter from Trump urging him to "choose your place in history." His cancer diagnosis has raised new questions about his 2024 fitness, while his decision to trim memoir tour events as treatment continues underscores the ongoing toll of his illness.
