FORMER first lady Jill Biden should be charged with “elder abuse” for not revealing Joe Biden’s health issues, a senior DOJ official has said.
Leo Terrell, who is the senior counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for civil rights, has made the shocking claim.
His remarks followed rampant rumors indicating that the former president’s “aggressive” prostate cancer diagnosis might have been concealed for an extended period.
Biden announced his cancer diagnosis in an official statement from his personal office on Sunday.
Soon after the disclosure, Terrell reacted to a post on X, which implied that Jill Biden was aware of Joe’s health issues yet allegedly “still wanted him to run for President.”
He wrote: “Elder abuse! Criminal charges??”
The senior DOJ official – who was recently appointed by Donald Trump – has accused Jill of “elder abuse” for years in a slew of posts made on X.
One of them read: “I am willing to prosecute Jill for elder abuse!”
Another read: “This woman is GUILTY of Elder Abuse. Stay home and take care of your incompetent husband!”
Even Donald Trump Jr has questioned how Jill failed to pick up the cancer – even though she is not a medical doctor.
Terrel’s latest tweet comes as Joe Biden is facing fresh scrutiny over his health while in office amid his cancer shock.
The former president, 82, claimed to have had cancer during a speech slip-up three years ago – which sparked fears for his health at the time.
He stated: “That’s why I and so damn many other people I grew up with have cancer and why for the longest time Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation.”
Biden’s use of the present tense led to speculations that the president was suffering from cancer.
But these were dismissed after it was suggested that the comments were a reference to “non-melanoma skin cancers”.
Before assuming the presidency, Biden had a number of “localized, non-melanoma skin cancers” removed by surgery.
In November 2021, Biden had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous lesion.
And in February 2023, he had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
Non-melanoma skin cancer typically develops in the areas of the body most exposed to the sun such as the face, ears, hands, shoulders, upper chest, and back.
The latest statement from Biden’s personal office said that he was seen by doctors last week after suffering urinary symptoms, with a prostate nodule then being found.
He was then diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone.
This comes as Donald Trump took a swipe at his predecessor and said he was “surprised” the public wasn’t told long ago about Biden’s cancer.
The US President cast doubt on the timeline of Biden’s diagnosis on Monday as he said it usually takes a “long time” to reach such an aggressive stage of cancer.
Trump was backed up by a leading oncologist who claimed that the former president likely had cancer when he took office in 2021.
Dr Zeke Emanuel said: “He had it while he was President.
“He probably had it at the start of his presidency, in 2021.”
Meanwhile, top medics have said they are shocked that Biden’s “aggressive” cancer was not picked up earlier and allowed to advance so far.
Physicians also revealed some of the potential treatment options ahead of the former president who is likely to suffer “bone pain”.
What are the symptoms every man needs to know?
In most cases, prostate cancer doesn’t have any symptoms until the growth is big enough to put pressure on the urethra – that tube you pee through.
Symptoms include:
- Needing to urinate more often, especially at night
- Needing to rush to the toilet
- Difficulty in starting to pee
- Weak flow
- Straining and taking a long time while peeing
- Feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied fully
Many men’s prostates get larger as they age because of the non-cancerous conditions, prostate enlargement, and benign prostatic hyperplasia.
In fact, these two conditions are more common than prostate cancer – but that doesn’t mean the symptoms should be ignored.
The signs that cancer has SPREAD include bone, back, or testicular pain, loss of appetite, and unexplained weight loss.
Dr Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News, told the channel: “It’s the most aggressive type. That means it has the highest risk of spread – which obviously he has had.
“This was found by physical examination by a prostate exam. A lot of times we find an elevation in prostate-specific antigen, PSA, and then we go after it.”
Dr Howie Forman, a professor of radiology at Yale, was also shocked that Biden’s disease had not been picked up by routine blood tests.
He said: “It is inconceivable that this was not being followed before he left the Presidency.”
Forman said that the test for specific prostate antigens would have shown the cancer “for some time before this diagnosis” – so it could have been picked up earlier.
He noted Biden “must have had a PSA test numerous times before”, and concluded: “It’s just so odd to discover this with bone [metastasis] in a man of his stature and [with his] access to care.”
