Former President Joe Biden joked on Friday that he was “mentally incompetent” and reassured the public that his metastatic prostate cancer has a “good prognosis” during his first public appearance since his diagnosis with the serious condition.
“You can see that I’m mentally incompetent and I can’t walk and I can beat the hell out of both of them,” Biden said during a Q&A with reporters.
The New York Post said his claim that he could “beat the hell out of both of them” was likely a reference to Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, co-authors of the recently released book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
Biden added that “I don’t have any regrets” about initially running for another term before being forced out of the race last July following a nightmare debate performance against then-likely GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Biden also addressed his cancer, claiming treatment was “all a matter of taking a pill, one particular pill, and for the next six weeks, and then another one, the expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this.”
“It’s not in any organ, my bones are strong … so I’m feeling good,” he added.
Biden addressed the press following a brief speech Friday at a war memorial near his Wilmington, Delaware home, marking the 10th anniversary of his son Beau’s passing from brain cancer, The Post reported.
In his prepared remarks, Biden expressed frustration over the deep divisions in U.S. politics—his first public comments since being diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. He also voiced anger toward calls for cuts to veterans’ benefits, saying, “I get really angry” when such proposals are made.
Biden, who during last year’s campaign labeled President Trump a fascist and a threat to American democracy, and referred to Trump’s supporters as “garbage,” showed no apparent new signs of physical decline despite his cancer having spread to his bones.
“My friends, Memorial Day is about something profound. Our politics have become so divided and so bitter — all the years I’ve been doing this, and never thought we’d get to this point, but we are,” he said, without taking any blame himself.
“Our troops don’t wear a uniform that says ‘I’m a Democrat’ or ‘I’m a Republican.’ It says I’m an American, I’m an American. That’s who I am. I’m serious about this. I’m not joking. And folks, our politics has become, as I said, so divided,” he reiterated.
He then pivoted to a familiar refrain, noting that the U.S. is “the only nation in the world founded on an idea.”
“The idea that America was founded on,” he said, “is ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident,’ that all men and women are created equal, endowed by the creator of certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We mean it. That’s who we are. That’s what makes America the most unique nation in the world, literally, not figuratively,” he added.
Thanks to the U.S. military, “American democracy has endured for nearly 250 years. Every generation, every generation, every generation has to fight to maintain that democracy,” Biden continued.
Alluding to those who died defending the country, Biden said they are “asking us to do our job, to protect our nation in our time now, to defend democracy, be part of something bigger than ourselves. So today, let’s renew our pledge to honor our heroes.”
At one point in his speech he said, “I get really angry when I hear about veterans are seeking too much” — though the former president did not provide any context about whether he was referencing historical or present political circumstances, The Post noted.
