Former White House Physician Delivers Stark Assessment of Biden’s Cancer Prognosis
A former presidential physician who served under both Barack Obama and Donald Trump is offering a grim forecast for President Joe Biden’s health, telling the Washington Free Beacon that the president’s metastatic prostate cancer is far advanced and could prove fatal within a year.
The revelation follows last month’s bombshell announcement from Biden’s office that what had previously been described to the public as a “small nodule” was, in fact, Stage 4 prostate cancer that had already spread to his bones.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a Navy rear admiral and the White House physician from 2013 to 2018, said the medical outlook is troubling.
“This is not my area of specialty, but I have spoken to multiple urologists since this came out, and the general consensus is like, you know, it could be 12 to 18 months,” Jackson told the outlet. “Hopefully it’s longer than that, and I hope they’re able to treat this effectively, and he lives many, many more years. But it’s far advanced.”
Jackson, who oversaw annual physicals for both Obama and Trump, suggested Biden’s cancer may have been diagnosed long before it was disclosed publicly.
“Every year I did an exam for President Obama, and every year I did an exam for President Trump, I checked the [prostate-specific antigen],” he explained. “We screened for prostate cancer. I think there’s a probability here that they knew [Biden] had prostate cancer some time ago and just didn’t tell the American people.”
He noted that prostate cancer treatment—particularly radiation therapy—often does not require hospitalization, making it possible for a sitting president to undergo treatment without the public being aware.
“People get that done as outpatients all the time,” Jackson said. “They go in, they spend a couple hours in the doctor’s office, and they’re released the same day. It’s absolutely conceivable that he could have been diagnosed and treated without the American people knowing, if his doctor and family chose not to say anything.”
Jackson emphasized that the seriousness of Biden’s condition underscores the need for aggressive annual screenings, particularly given his age and the demands of the presidency.
The doubts over Biden’s health are not coming solely from Republican critics. Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who also served as a White House physician—this time under Barack Obama—argued that Biden’s doctor should have administered a cognitive assessment during Biden’s final year in office.
The most recent health summary from White House physician Kevin O’Connor, released in February 2024, made no mention of neuropsychological testing, despite Biden being 81 years old at the time.
“Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest,” Kuhlman said, suggesting that such a test would have offered the public valuable insight into whether Biden was capable of serving another term. “It shouldn’t be just health, it should be fitness. Fitness is: Do you have that robust mind, body, and spirit that you can do this physically, mentally, emotionally demanding job?”
Fresh questions about Biden’s mental acuity have also been fueled by a recent book from CNN’s Jake Tapper and journalist Alex Thompson. Drawing from dozens of interviews with Democratic insiders after the 2024 election, the authors depict Biden as a well-meaning but often exhausted leader, prone to forgetfulness, occasional incoherence, and long bouts of fatigue.
The book further claims that O’Connor was reluctant to order a cognitive exam, even though Biden was evaluated by a neurologist for possible Parkinson’s disease.
Biden, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race earlier this year, has dismissed concerns about his health with characteristic sarcasm. When asked by reporters at a Memorial Day event about his decision to withdraw and whether it was related to his condition, Biden shot back:
“You can see that I’m mentally incompetent, and I can’t walk, and I can beat the hell out of both of them,” he quipped, apparently referring to Tapper and Thompson.
The remark drew laughter from some in attendance but did little to quiet the ongoing debate over whether the president’s diagnosis and cognitive fitness were fully disclosed to the American public in a timely fashion.