Biden Says He Would Have Stepped Down If He Knew He Had Cancer

“But that wasn’t the case,” he continued. “I believe that on an objective basis, I was the best-equipped person to do the job.”

Biden’s office announced in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed a few days earlier with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and that tests indicated that the cancer had spread to his bones. He later had surgery and went through radiation therapy as part of his treatment.

When asked by PEOPLE about accusations that he kept his cancer diagnosis a secret while he was in office, Biden maintained, “I didn’t do that.”

“We let the public know when I found out, when I knew what was going on,” he said. “I wasn’t hiding it at all.”

Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, told BBC’s Newsnight in August that his father’s cancer had spread “further” and the condition was “very painful.” On Sunday, Biden shared that he wouldn’t be able to do as many public appearances as he had planned in conjunction with the release of his new memoir—”Promise Me, America,” which is coming out on Nov. 17—because of his health.