Former President Joe Biden responded to accusations that he concealed his cancer diagnosis during his presidency in his new book, according to parts of an excerpt published Tuesday.
The former president was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones in May 2025.
“What did surprise me was the cynical twist the story took in the political press and among political commentators,” Biden wrote in his upcoming memoir, according to MS NOW. “Almost immediately, the reaction was: ‘You hid it from us.’ ‘You must have known it.’ ‘You’re lying.’ Let me tell you something: There isn’t anyone in this world with stage 4 cancer who doesn’t wish it had been caught sooner.”
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The memoir, titled “Promise Me, America,” is set to be released on Nov. 17. Biden reflects on his four years in the White House in the book, covering the COVID-19 pandemic, the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, domestic legislation, global diplomacy and his decision to run for re-election before later stepping aside in 2024. The memoir also details the personal deliberations behind his decision to end his 2024 re-election bid.
“For anyone to think I would try to ignore or hide a cancer ravaging my body is absurd,” Biden wrote, according to the excerpt. “Here are the simple facts. Standard medical protocol is to stop testing men for prostate cancer after the age of seventy.”
Biden said Sunday that he would not be able to participate in as many conversations about his book as he had hoped because of his treatment.
“Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me,” he said. “But sometimes it slows me down. What that means is, unfortunately, I won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped. However, I’m hopeful the words on the page speak for themselves.”
“In the daily grind of the White House, it could be difficult to step back and take the long view — because so much was happening every minute,” Biden wrote in his book, according to the excerpt. “But now, from my lake house, I am able to slow down and savor the results of my Presidency.”
Biden’s memoir comes after several books about the 2024 election shed light on the Biden administration’s decision-making leading up to the election, including former Vice President Kamala Harris’ “107 Days,” released in 2025.
Harris’ book focused mostly on her short campaign for the presidency, but also included some insight into her relationship with Biden and his team.
Harris wrote that she felt her decision to remain silent about Biden’s 2024 re-election bid had been reckless.
“‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness,” she said. “The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision.”
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Former first lady Jill Biden also released a memoir that detailed her feelings and experiences throughout the 2024 campaign, including her husband’s June 2024 debate performance, which ultimately led to him exiting the race.
