At a Democratic event on Friday, former President Joe Biden appeared with a noticeable bandage on his head as he delivered an emotional address focusing on his and his late son Beau’s experiences with cancer.
Speaking at the Ben Nelson Gala hosted by the Nebraska Democratic Party, the 82-year-old Biden expressed his belief that his son should have been president instead of him. He criticized former President Donald Trump’s administration for reducing government funding for cancer research.
“Cancer affects every family, and it’s hit mine particularly hard,” Biden remarked during his speech.
He recounted, “The love of my life, my eldest son, who was the attorney general of Delaware, volunteered to serve in Iraq for a year. He didn’t have to, but he did. Unfortunately, he returned with stage four glioblastoma, a result of exposure to toxic burn pits, similar to those on 9/11, and he passed away.”
Earlier this year, Biden was diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer in May. He was seen in public with a large head bandage in August after undergoing Mohs surgery, a procedure to assess the spread of skin cancer.
The 46th president concluded by sharing his personal journey with cancer treatment and emphasized the critical need for ongoing research into the disease.
He said: ‘When you get that research they’re doing, when they diagnose it – in my case, I just had prostate cancer – when you finish that round of treatment, you get to ring that bell at the end of each treatment.
‘Well, thank God for the doctors and nurses and incredible breakthroughs we’re making in cancer research. Now, Trump and his Republican friends are cutting government funding for health care, making it more expensive.’
Former president Joe Biden was wearing a seemingly fresh bandage on his head during an appearance at a Democratic Party event on Friday
Biden did not explicitly mention the bandage, and it is unclear why he wore it
In August, Biden was also seen with a much larger bandage on his head
Biden did not explicitly mention the bandage on the top left of his scalp, and it is unclear exactly why he was wearing it.
He continued his speech with further critiques of the Trump administration.
‘Why in God’s name are they doing this?’ he said before answering his own question by stating Republicans are looking to fund tax cuts for the ‘wealthiest people in America.’
The former president got particularly emotive when discussing the record-long government shutdown, which is on its 39th day, four days longer than the previous shutdown record that took place during Trump’s first term.
Biden said the current president ‘better get the damn government open’ and accused Trump of ‘deliberately making hunger worse for Americans,’ in reference to the lack of funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
‘In the United States of America, one in five children, one in five children, go to bed hungry every night!’ he said.
Republicans have blamed Democrats for keeping the government closed, because almost every Republican senator has voted in favor of the proposed spending plan.
Democrats have said they refuse to pass the bill until they can secure funding for healthcare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
Before he was seen with this wound in August, the former president had recently undergone Mohs surgery, which is a procedure to detect how deep skin cancer has spread
Biden’s eldest son, Beau (right), died from brain cancer at the age of 46
Biden got fired up during his speech on Friday while criticizing the Trump administration for issues ranging from cancer research funding cuts to the government shutdown
In the meantime, important public services such as air traffic control have suffered heavily. Up to one in five flights could be canceled next week if the shutdown drags on, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
During his speech on Friday, Biden also mentioned the stunning sweep of his party across state elections last week, which saw Democratic wins in New Jersey, Virginia, New York City, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Mississippi.
The former president said those results showed voters were ‘sending a message to Trump and to his crowd.’
Biden said poignantly: ‘The Democratic Party is back – not hyperbole.’
