Joe and Jill Biden are seemingly navigating a wave of backlash following the former president’s recent announcement about his battle with prostate cancer.
Johanna Masca, who collaborated with Biden during his time as Barack Obama’s vice president, expressed to the Daily Mail that negative reactions and demands for a cover-up should be minimized.
“I know they’re sensitive to that,” Masca noted, having served as the director of news services in the Obama administration.
“And Joe will follow it all. I don’t think there was a point when he wasn’t aware of what was happening in the news. He’s seen as a product of DC and is very attuned to current events,” she added. “This isn’t the graceful exit they envisioned.”
There’s rampant speculation that the Biden administration has been aware of President Biden’s health concerns, as medical experts have raised eyebrows over how his “aggressive” cancer went unnoticed earlier.
Some high-ranking officials within the Justice Department even considered whether Jill Biden could face legal issues for not disclosing information regarding her husband’s health.
“Elder Abuse! Criminal Accusations?” wrote Leo Terrell, a senior advisor at the DOJ, on social media.
“She was aware of President Biden’s health issues yet still encouraged him to seek office. That’s quite troubling,” he commented.
Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel, an oncologist and member of Biden’s transition team post-2020 election, has also questioned the narrative surrounding his diagnosis, suggesting that it’s likely he was ill during his presidency.
“He has possibly been dealing with this for many years, maybe even a decade,” he stated during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” after news broke. “He didn’t acquire this in the last few months. It’s likely he had it when he was president, possibly from the beginning of his term in 2021. There’s likely consensus on this.”
Despite all the concerns, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, a longtime friend of the Bidens and former White House physician, consistently provided a clean bill of health for the ex-president.
On Tuesday, a representative from Biden’s office mentioned that the last known screening for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which is the primary test for prostate cancer, occurred back in 2014.
A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately reply to requests for further comments.
