Dr. Jill Biden, the former first lady, provided a health update concerning former President Joe Biden on Saturday. She disclosed that the 83-year-old Biden, despite living with cancer, continues to maintain an active lifestyle, though he has noticeably slowed down.
During a conversation with political commentator and “The View” co-host Ana Navarro, centered around Navarro’s new book, “View From the East Wing: A Memoir,” Dr. Biden reflected on her husband’s health while he was still in office. She noted that even with a dedicated medical team at the White House, she observed him waking up seven times each night to use the bathroom, assuming follow-up care would be provided.
However, upon their departure from the White House in 2025, when the issue persisted, Dr. Biden urged her husband to consult a urologist. During his initial appointment, the doctor discovered an anomaly, leading to a CAT scan.
“I never imagined it would be prostate cancer,” she confessed. “It was something I just never expected.”
Dr. Biden elaborated that while some prostate cancers are treatable, Joe’s condition is more severe. “It’s stage four and has metastasized to his bones,” she explained, adding, “This changes everything. Joe will have to manage this for the rest of his life, which involves taking special medications.”
She also revealed that he underwent a rigorous course of radiation therapy, which required frequent travel from their home in Delaware to Philadelphia over the span of five weeks.
“You know, it takes a toll,” she said, adding that on Friday night her husband was in South Dakota for a Democratic Party event, on Saturday he was at a friend’s wedding, and Sunday he’ll be in Philadelphia.
“He keeps his schedule, but he’s slowed down,” she said. “I mean, stage four cancer is — and he’s 83 — so, I think the mix of everything and the medications that he’s taken has made life a little more difficult these days.”
When asked how she’s been handling the situation, Biden said: “It’s hard to be a caretaker,” noting that the former president wouldn’t want her to phrase it that way, but explaining that she’s the one responsible for all the details.
“I have to make sure he gets the right medications,” she explained. “I’m the one talking to the doctors. I’m the one setting up the appointments. I’m the one to make sure that he eats well.”
Joe Biden announced his cancer diagnosis in May 2025.
Earlier this week, the former first lady told the “Today” show that her husband is “doing OK.”
“He’s out making speeches, and he’s traveling on Amtrak,” she added. “He was just at the Delaware Memorial Bridge for the veteran’s ceremony. So yeah, he’s doing a lot, but he has stage 4 cancer.”
Biden and Navarro also talked about some other issues she wrote about in her book, including when the former president made the decision to drop out of the 2024 race after his disastrous debate in June 2024.
She said he turned to her while they were at their home in Delaware and told her: “I have no choice.”
Biden added that it was also “hurtful” to her when she saw Democrats, many of whom had been their friends for decades, publicly calling for Biden to drop out of the race.
But she said Biden reconciled with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was believed to have been privately leading calls for him to leave the race, at the funeral for Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy, in January.
The 75-year-old admitted that she still hasn’t spoken to Pelosi.
She also said she believes there has been a “double standard” in the conversations around her husband’s age and mental acuity when compared to President Donald Trump, who will turn 80 on June 14.
For the next president after Trump leaves office, Biden said she’s looking for someone with integrity, trustworthiness, and empathy, but didn’t name any names.
“They’re the characteristics of the American people,” she said. “That’s who we are.”
