\n<\/p>\n
ATLANTA — <\/span>ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 Joe Biden<\/a> says he did not know he had cancer<\/a> while he was president and would not have sought a second term if he already had been diagnosed.<\/a><\/p>\n The former Democratic president’s comments came in an interview with People magazine before the release of his White House memoir<\/a> on Tuesday. <\/p>\n \u201cIf I had known that I was feeling lousy because I had cancer,\u201d said Biden, who turns 84 on Nov. 20, \u201cI would\u2019ve not gone forward\u201d with a 2024 reelection bid<\/a> that ended after a disastrous debate performance<\/a> against Republican Donald Trump<\/a>. <\/p>\n Biden was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer months after leaving office in 2025. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running\u201d for president, Biden said in the interview. <\/p>\n Still, he argued that the June 2024 debate, less than five months before Election Day, was not a seismic event even if it accelerated Democrats’ concerns about his age \u2014 he was 81 at the time \u2014 and his ability to defeat Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, I thought there\u2019d be another debate, which there wasn\u2019t,\u201d Biden said. \u201cBut notwithstanding the fact that there wasn\u2019t another debate, it didn\u2019t disturb me because it wasn\u2019t consequential.\u201d<\/p>\n Within weeks, Biden announced he was ending his campaign and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, who secured the nomination and lost to Trump in the general election<\/a>.<\/p>\n Biden insisted he was able to perform his duties while he was in office. He said age itself was not disqualifying and meant he had experience and deep personal relationships with world leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that on an objective basis, I was the best-equipped person to do the job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His son Hunter told the BBC in August that the cancer had spread and was causing his father pain. “It\u2019s very painful and it\u2019s very debilitating in many respects,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since Joe Biden left office, his son has become a higher profile public presence, sparring with Republicans on social media, posting lengthy thoughts on the nation’s direction and launching his own cryptocurrency. <\/p>\n Joe Biden defended his son’s public persona and his decision to pardon<\/a> Hunter Biden after the younger Biden’s 2024 conviction<\/a> on federal felony gun charges and his guilty plea to federal tax charges<\/a>. Hunter Biden also had faced years of scrutiny and withering Republican attacks over his international business dealings.<\/a><\/p>\n Hunter Biden has said the pardon damaged his father’s legacy, but the former president said Trump’s penchant for vengeance made it necessary. <\/p>\n \u201cHe goes after people without any basis, whether they\u2019re viewed as an enemy. I knew what he would do,\u201d Joe Biden said. \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t pardoned \u2014 not just some of my family members, anyone who\u2019s dealt with me \u2014 he would go back and try to do harm to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden called his son \u201cone of the brightest men I know,\u201d adding, \u201cI\u2019m really proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n