It was announced on Sunday (18 May) that former United States president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
A statement released by his office said that the 82-year-old Democrat, who left the White House in January, had an ‘aggressive form of cancer’.
It reads: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
The statement continues: “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
According to Cancer Research UK, a Gleason score of nine means that the cancerous cells ‘look very abnormal’.
It also means the disease is ‘likely to grow quickly’.
Responding to the news, current president Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis.
“We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
However, Trump’s eldest child, Donald Trump Jr, took a totally different approach to reacting to the news and has since been slammed online after his ‘disgraceful’ reaction to Biden’s ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer diagnosis.
Trump Jr took to X shortly after the announcement to caption an image reading: “BREAKING: Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Politics aside, we wish him a speedy recovery!” with ‘Agreed 100%’.
However, he then shared a screenshot of a tweet by a doctor speculating about how and when Biden was diagnosed.
Trump Jr captioned the screenshot: “What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???”
Understandably, it didn’t take long for people to call out Trump Jr’s ‘disgraceful’ reaction to the news with one X user writing: “Jill Biden has a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership from the University of Delaware. She has never claimed to be a Doctor in the medical context.”
“You’re a disgrace,” hit out a second, while a third agreed: “Tasteless post.”
A fourth penned: “@grok can you explain to this man that she is not a medical doctor. Please direct the explanation directly at him and include his @ in your response.”
Grok, Elon Musk’s bot, later replied: “@DonaldJTrumpJr I’d like to clarify that Jill Biden holds a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.), not a medical degree. She is an educator, not a medical doctor, and thus is not qualified to diagnose or treat medical conditions like prostate cancer.
“Her title ‘Dr.’ reflects her academic achievement, though some debate its use for non-medical fields.”
Tyla has reached out to Joe Biden’s office for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
