Biden says he wouldn't have run in 2024 had he known about his cancer

Biden told People he was unaware of his cancer during his presidency, and that knowing would have changed everything. Asked about a 2024 run, he said: if he had known he felt lousy because of cancer, he would not have gone forward. The interview drops ahead of his White House memoir, out Tuesday. Biden turns 84 on Nov. 20.

His diagnosis — metastatic prostate cancer — came months after he left office in 2025. In the interview he drew a line: an 80-year-old man with cancer should not be running for president. He was 81 at the time of the June 2024 debate.

That debate, held under five months before Election Day, cratered his standing with Democrats worried about his age and his odds against Donald Trump. Biden isn't buying it as the turning point. He said he expected another debate, which never came, and that the night didn't disturb him because it wasn't consequential. Within weeks he dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris, who won the nomination and lost to Trump.

Biden still insists he was up to the job at the time, arguing age brought experience and deep relationships with world leaders rather than disqualifying him. On an objective basis, he said, he was the best-equipped person to do the job.

Hunter Biden told the BBC in August that the cancer had spread and was causing his father serious suffering, calling it very painful and very debilitating in many respects. Since leaving office, the younger Biden has become a louder public figure — debating Republicans on social media, writing on national affairs and launching a cryptocurrency. Joe Biden defended both that role and his decision to pardon Hunter after the 2024 federal gun conviction and a guilty plea on tax charges, saying Trump's vengeful nature made it necessary and that Trump would go after anyone who had dealt with him. He called his son one of the brightest men he knows and said he's really proud of him.