Joe Biden In ‘Debilitating Pain’ As Cancer Worsens
Joe Biden In ‘Debilitating Pain’ As Cancer Worsens
The country was shocked to learn that, just months after Joe Biden left the presidency, he had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, perhaps years earlier.
Now, according to former first son Hunter Biden, his dad’s condition has worsened, as he hinted that perhaps his father doesn’t have much longer to live.
“The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden said in the Friday interview with the BBC. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.”
Joe Biden announced his condition in May 2025.
“It’s really sad to watch,” Hunter Biden, who appeared to choke up as he spoke, said.
“The only thing that I’d say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it’s not good,” the son said.
“He’s still doing his thing,” he said. “He so believes in this country.”
The former president’s office said at the time that the cancer appeared to be “hormone-sensitive,” which would allow doctors to pursue treatments aimed at managing the disease.
Former first lady Jill Biden offered a similar assessment during a June appearance on “The View,” acknowledging that things had “slowed down” for her husband since his diagnosis while saying he remained busy.
Hunter called his father the “best father, the best husband, the best grandfather” and said the former president remains at the “center of our family.”
Joe Biden’s health became a major focus during his presidency as he delayed his decision on whether to seek a second term.
After ultimately withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race following a disastrous debate performance against then-former President Donald Trump, in which Biden looked completely lost and confused at times.
At the time, Trump mocked Biden, saying, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Joe Biden and his media surrogates, as well as nearly every Democrat, tried to play the bad performance as a one-off, not a sign of a much deeper issue regarding his mental capacity.
“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted, I didn’t listen to my instincts,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos shortly after the debate.
Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee within weeks of the debate.
Her campaign blew through $1.5 billion but she lost to Trump badly, losing all the swing states and the national popular vote.
In a separate interview with the BBC, Hunter Biden said his addiction to crack cocaine placed additional strain on his father during that period and contributed to the personal challenges facing the Biden family.
“Of course I did,” Hunter said. “That’s what addiction does.
“You know, I dig that most people would sit here and try to run from that question or be offended by it, but absolutely,” he said.
Hunter said his struggles affected Jill Biden, his children, other relatives and personal relationships, “but, in particular, to my dad, who never let go.”
“My dad never let me off the hook,” Hunter said, while recalling that his father also made clear that “when I was ready to come back, the door was open.”
“That is the singular thing that saved me — that the door was left open,” he said.
Hunter also rejected the idea that families must necessarily allow someone suffering from addiction to reach “rock bottom.”
“A lot of people always say that you’ve got to let an addict hit rock-bottom,” Hunter said, adding that people he knew who reached that point were “either dead or in jail.”
Hunter’s addiction, including his use of crack cocaine, has been publicly documented for years and was discussed extensively in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.”
The struggle came after another devastating chapter for the Biden family when Joe Biden’s eldest son, Beau Biden, died from brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.
My brother banned my kids from family dinners while keeping his own invited—so I canceled the cards paying for everyone’s lifestyle, and by sunrise I had 61 missed calls.
Mom gave a thumbs-up when my brother said my children were no longer welcome at family dinners, but she stopped smiling when her credit card was declined that same night.
The first time my brother told me my children were no longer welcome at family dinner, I thought he was joking.
The second time, I realized everyone else already knew.
I stood on my parents’ front porch holding a pecan pie in one hand while my ten-year-old son, Noah, balanced a bowl of mashed potatoes against his chest.
My seven-year-old daughter, Lily, was already reaching for the doorknob.
Then Jason stepped outside and blocked it.
“Emily, we need to talk.”
Behind him, I could hear laughter.
Children’s laughter.
His children.
Twelve-year-old Chase was yelling at his younger sister, Ava, about a video game. My mother was telling them to wash their hands.
The dining room smelled like roasted chicken.
Lily smiled.
“Grandma made biscuits!”
She tried to slip around Jason.
He moved sideways.
“No.”
My daughter stopped.
Jason looked at me.
“Mom didn’t tell you?”
My stomach tightened.
“Tell me what?”
He lowered his voice.
“Sunday dinners are adults only for your kids for a while.”
Noah looked up.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Jason said, “you two aren’t coming in tonight.”
Lily stared at him.
“But Chase and Ava are inside.”
Jason’s expression barely changed.
“That’s different.”
There are sentences that divide your life into before and after.
That was one of them.
I looked through the front window.
Jason’s wife, Madison, was pouring herself wine.
My father was carving chicken.
My mother saw me standing outside.
For one second, guilt crossed her face.
Then she looked away.
That hurt more than Jason’s words.
I handed Noah my pie.
“Stay here with Lily.”
Then I stepped closer to my brother.
“Why?”
Jason sighed like I was exhausting him.
“Last week was the final straw.”
The “final straw” had been Noah telling Chase to stop mocking Lily because she needed extra reading help at school.
Chase had called her stupid.
Noah told him to shut up.
Jason decided Noah was “disrespectful.”
“You’re banning my children because my son defended his sister?”
“Your kids bring tension.”
“My kids?”
“Emily, don’t do this.”
I almost laughed.
“Do what?”
“Make everything about money because you’re upset.”
I froze.
I hadn’t mentioned money.
Jason apparently knew exactly where my mind might go.
For seven years, I had been helping my family.
It began when Dad had heart surgery.
Then Jason’s contracting business hit a rough patch.
Then Mom needed dental work.
Then Madison needed “temporary help” with groceries.
Temporary became permanent.
I added family members as authorized users on cards tied to an account I paid every month.
Groceries.
Gas.
Restaurant dinners.
Jason’s SUV payment.
Madison’s country club dues.
My parents’ vacations.
Chase’s baseball travel fees.
Ava’s dance lessons.
There were months I paid more for my brother’s household than I spent on my own.
Nobody talked about it anymore.
My generosity had quietly transformed into infrastructure.
Jason leaned toward me.
“You’re their mother. You can sit out a few dinners until they learn how to behave.”
Behind him, Chase appeared at the window holding a chicken drumstick.
He made eye contact with Noah.
Then he smiled.
Noah looked down.
Something inside me went very still.
“Okay,” I said.
Jason blinked.
“Okay?”
“Enjoy dinner.”
He looked almost disappointed that I wasn’t screaming.
I turned around.
“Come on, guys.”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“But Grandma—”
“We’re having our own dinner.”
Noah carried the pie back toward my car.
Lily followed.
Nobody inside came out to stop us.
Not Mom.
Not Dad.
Nobody.
Jason called after me.
“Emily.”
I turned.
He stood under the porch light with his arms crossed.
“Don’t make this bigger than it is.”
I stared at him.
Then I said the one sentence he would spend the next twelve hours wishing I had never said.
“You’re right. I’ve been making this family much bigger than it is for years.”
I drove my children to a diner.
Noah ordered pancakes.
Lily got chocolate milk.
We laughed more during that meal than we had at a Sunday dinner in months.
After they fell asleep that night, I sat at my kitchen table with my laptop.
I opened the banking app.
Nine authorized cards.
Jason.
Madison.
Mom.
Dad.
Two cards attached to Jason’s business.
Three additional household cards.
I moved my parents’ medications, utilities, and health insurance to direct payments.
I wasn’t going to endanger anyone.
Then I canceled everything else.
Country club.
Restaurants.
Retail.
Travel.
Luxury subscriptions.
Jason’s business expenses.
All of it.
At 11:48 p.m., the final card turned gray.
CANCELED.
I closed my laptop.
For the first time in years, my family’s lifestyle was no longer my responsibility.
I slept beautifully.
At 6:17 the next morning, I woke to my phone vibrating itself across the nightstand.
61 missed calls.
Twenty-three texts.
Nine voicemails.
And one message from my mother that made me sit straight up in bed.
Emily, your brother is here. He found the financial documents. Please come before your father sees them.
I read it twice.
Then a new text arrived.
From Jason.
You have no idea what you just did.
He was wrong.
I knew exactly what I had done.
What I didn’t know yet was what my brother had been doing with my money
