Former President Biden’s political allies and rivals alike sent a flood of well wishes and tributes to the former president on Sunday following news of his cancer diagnosis, praising him as “a fighter.”
The news of Biden’s health challenges came amid renewed scrutiny of his decision to initially run for a second term despite questions about his mental acuity. Several Democrats over the past week went further than in the past by saying that he should have dropped out sooner. And many members of his party expressed frustration that he was returning to the media spotlight amid an avalanche of negative reporting.
But on Sunday, following the announcement of his diagnosis, Democrats and Republicans — including some of his most vocal critics — all struck a somber and respectful note, praising the former president and wishing him well.
“If there’s one person who knows how to turn tragedy into triumph, it’s Joe Biden,” said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright. “I don’t think cancer of any kind will be a match for Joe Biden.”
Biden’s former vice president, Kamala Harris, predicted in a post on the social platform X that “he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” while President Trump and first lady Melania Trump extended his “warmest and best wishes” to Biden in a separate post.
Biden’s personal office announced on Sunday afternoon that the former president had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer on Friday after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. According to the statement, Biden’s diagnosis was “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
Biden had a deeply personal connection to cancer even before the diagnosis, having lost his son Beau to brain cancer. He started the “Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot” in 2016 when he was vice president in an effort to combat the disease.
Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), who has worked as a urologist for more than 30 years, also expressed hope for Biden.
“Medical treatment for this disease has come a long way during my career. My prayers are with him and his family,” Murphy said in a post on X.
In recent weeks, Democrats have blamed Biden and his closest advisers for not being forthcoming about his cognitive decline during his time as president.
“The political implications of the last two years have had an outsized impact on Joe Biden‘s political legacy, but there is a groundswell of personal affection for his decades of public service and his remarkable journey through personal tragedy,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne.
“Obviously, everyone is hopeful for the best in terms of the president’s prognosis and sending well wishes and prayers to him and his family.”
Payne said the news of Biden’s cancer “will undoubtedly impact how the Democratic Party is processing and coming to terms with the final months of the Biden presidency.”
At the same time, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, who worked in the Biden administration, said “this isn’t a time for politics.”
“Joe Biden has given so much to this country, it’s time for us to give him some time and space to focus on his health,” Simmons said.
Democratic strategist Eddie Vale echoed this sentiment, emphasizing Biden’s compassion for others in the face of hardship.
“Through all the suffering in his life it gave Biden an incredible sense for others’ struggles that he always took the time to be there for them,” Vale said. “So as unlikely as it would be for it to happen, right now would be a great time for everyone to just have a human reaction and think a kind thought for him and his family.”
Biden has reemerged in the public spotlight in recent weeks following the end of his term earlier this year.
Biden gave his first postpresidency interview to the BBC earlier this month and sat down with “The View” after that.
On “The View,” Biden denied reports about his alleged declining mental acuity. The former first lady also slammed reporting on Biden’s mental acuity while in office, noting “the people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us.”
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who played an instrumental role in Biden’s 2020 win, defended Biden in the face of those reports on Sunday prior to his cancer diagnosis.
“The fact of the matter is, I saw Biden often,” Clyburn told CNN’s Jake Tapper in a “State of the Union” interview. “I talked to him on the telephone very often, and I never saw anything that I thought was outside of the ordinary.”
