Former first lady Jill Biden said her husband, former President Joe Biden, will live with stage 4 prostate cancer for the rest of his life and has slowed down significantly at 83.
Biden gave the update Saturday during a discussion with “The View” co-host Ana Navarro for her new book “View From the East Wing: A Memoir.”
She explained that while her husband was still president, he was getting up seven times a night to use the bathroom. She assumed his medical team would follow up, but when the problem persisted after they left the White House in 2025, she told him to see a urologist.
At his first appointment, the doctor said, “There’s something there,” and ordered a CAT scan.
“I never imagined it would be prostate cancer. I just never imagined it.”
The cancer had metastasized to his bones by the time of diagnosis — putting it at stage four.
“The problem with Joe — it’s stage four, and it has metastasized to his bones,” Biden said. “So that puts things on a whole different level. I mean, Joe will have to live with cancer for the rest of his life, which means he’s on special medicines.”
The former president went through five weeks of radiation, traveling constantly from Delaware to Philadelphia for treatment.
“You know, it takes a toll,” she said.
Despite the diagnosis, Biden said her husband maintains a busy schedule — appearing at a Democratic Party event in South Dakota on Friday, a friend’s wedding on Saturday, and planning to be in Philadelphia on Sunday.
“He keeps his schedule, but he’s slowed down. 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 handling the situation, Biden described the caretaker role as difficult.
“I have to make sure he gets the right medications,” she said. “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 her husband is “doing OK” and traveling on Amtrak, but acknowledged: “He has stage 4 cancer.”
Biden also discussed her husband’s decision to drop out of the 2024 race after his debate performance in June 2024. She said he turned to her at their Delaware home and told her, “I have no choice.”
The 75-year-old admitted she still hasn’t spoken to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was believed to have privately led calls for Biden to leave the race. Biden reconciled with Pelosi at a funeral in January, but Jill Biden has not.
She also said she believes there’s been a “double standard” in conversations around her husband’s age and mental acuity compared to President Donald Trump, who turns 80 on June 14.
