The country was shocked to learn that, just months after Joe Biden left the presidency, he had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, perhaps years earlier.
Now, according to former first son Hunter Biden, his dad’s condition has worsened, as he hinted that perhaps his father doesn’t have much longer to live.
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“The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden said in the Friday interview with the BBC. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.”
Joe Biden announced his condition in May 2025.
“It’s really sad to watch,” Hunter Biden, who appeared to choke up as he spoke, said.
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“The only thing that I’d say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it’s not good,” the son said.
“He’s still doing his thing,” he said. “He so believes in this country.”
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The former president’s office said at the time that the cancer appeared to be “hormone-sensitive,” which would allow doctors to pursue treatments aimed at managing the disease.
Former first lady Jill Biden offered a similar assessment during a June appearance on “The View,” acknowledging that things had “slowed down” for her husband since his diagnosis while saying he remained busy.
Hunter called his father the “best father, the best husband, the best grandfather” and said the former president remains at the “center of our family.”
Joe Biden’s health became a major focus during his presidency as he delayed his decision on whether to seek a second term.
After ultimately withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race following a disastrous debate performance against then-former President Donald Trump, in which Biden looked completely lost and confused at times.
At the time, Trump mocked Biden, saying, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Joe Biden and his media surrogates, as well as nearly every Democrat, tried to play the bad performance as a one-off, not a sign of a much deeper issue regarding his mental capacity.
“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted, I didn’t listen to my instincts,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos shortly after the debate.
Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee within weeks of the debate.
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Her campaign blew through $1.5 billion but she lost to Trump badly, losing all the swing states and the national popular vote.
In a separate interview with the BBC, Hunter Biden said his addiction to crack cocaine placed additional strain on his father during that period and contributed to the personal challenges facing the Biden family.
“Of course I did,” Hunter said. “That’s what addiction does.
“You know, I dig that most people would sit here and try to run from that question or be offended by it, but absolutely,” he said.
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Hunter said his struggles affected Jill Biden, his children, other relatives and personal relationships, “but, in particular, to my dad, who never let go.”
“My dad never let me off the hook,” Hunter said, while recalling that his father also made clear that “when I was ready to come back, the door was open.”
“That is the singular thing that saved me — that the door was left open,” he said.
Hunter also rejected the idea that families must necessarily allow someone suffering from addiction to reach “rock bottom.”
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“A lot of people always say that you’ve got to let an addict hit rock-bottom,” Hunter said, adding that people he knew who reached that point were “either dead or in jail.”
Hunter’s addiction, including his use of crack cocaine, has been publicly documented for years and was discussed extensively in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.”
The struggle came after another devastating chapter for the Biden family when Joe Biden’s eldest son, Beau Biden, died from brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
