Biden says he wouldn’t have run for a second term in 2024 if he knew he had cancer

Joe Biden says he would not have sought re-election in 2024 if he had known he had cancer. Diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer months after leaving office in 2025, he said he had not known about it while president; his remarks come in an interview ahead of his White House memoir’s release.

Biden maintained that he was able to do the job while in office and said age brought experience and relationships with world leaders. He described the June 2024 debate with Donald Trump as not consequential, though it intensified concerns about his age and prospects; within weeks, Biden ended his campaign and endorsed Kamala Harris, who later lost to Trump. He also defended pardoning his son Hunter, saying he feared Trump would target people connected to him.