Biden latest: Trump, Kamala lead tributes after Joe Biden reveals cancer diagnosis – UK Times

Trump’s fellow Republicans commented on the news of Biden’s diagnosis.

Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins said she was “saddened to hear of President Biden’s cancer diagnosis and am wishing him and his family well as he begins treatment.”

North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he was “praying for his full recovery.”

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee lamented the “sad news.”

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she was “sorry to see this news. Cancer is truly awful. My Dad passed away in 2021 with cancer. Prays for Joe Biden and his family.”

This is not the first time he has been diagnosed with a form of cancer.

In March 2023, the White House announced that Biden had undergone a procedure to remove a common type of skin cancer from his chest.

A memorandum from O’Connor released to the press at the time said a biopsy “confirmed that the small lesion” removed from the then-president “was basal cell carcinoma”.

Four months after his final physical, Biden’s performance at a June 2024 debate with Donald Trump was so dismal that he was forced to exit the race just five weeks later. During the 90-minute televised session, he appeared frail and was unable to form coherent sentences at times, leading to questions over whether he was suffering from any sort of degenerative condition.

Last July, then-White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia, or another degenerative illness that would explain his rambling, meandering performance. And no evidence has emerged that Biden has been diagnosed with any condition that would have had such an effect on his mental acuity other than the normal aging process.

As president, Biden had regular physical examinations at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, that were conducted by Dr. Kevin O’Connor, a former U.S. Army physician who began treating Biden during his time as vice president in the Obama administration.

Though he was the oldest person to serve as commander-in-chief, O’Connor’s reports from those annual exams downplayed his age and invariably pronounced him fit to serve.

One February 2024 memorandum from O’Connor, following Biden’s final annual physical as president, described him as “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”