Former President Joe Biden says that he would have resigned from office and abandoned his 2024 reelection campaign had he known he had cancer, according to his forthcoming memoir.
The president, in excerpts of the new book, Promise Me, America, explains that he was experiencing health problems before his diagnosis but did not know that it was cancer that was causing them.
Joe Biden in 2021 White House Photo
President Joe Biden speaks at the NAACP Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
The former president also insists that he never deliberately concealed illness from the American public and now claims that his poor performance during the June 2024 presidential debate was not, in fact, responsible for ending his campaign.
Speaking in an interview with People magazine that was published on Wednesday, November 11, the former president said that he would not have attempted to continue serving for another four years if doctors had diagnosed him with cancer before the election campaign began.
The 83-year-old former president was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in May 2025, less than four months after he left office.
The comments come as the president’s memoir is set to be released on November 17. In a recent statement, he said that his ongoing cancer treatment will limit his ability to appear in public and promote the book.
Biden Would Have Stepped Aside
Speaking to People magazine from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the former president acknowledged that his health was not ideal before his diagnosis, but that he was unaware of the cancer.
He said that, had he known the cancer was responsible for his symptoms, he would have resigned rather than continuing to serve as president.
“I don’t think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running,” he said.
He did, however, defend his decision to seek reelection, arguing that he was the most qualified person for the role and that his experience and relationships with global leaders were an advantage.
Biden was 81 years old when he withdrew from the race on July 21, 2024, after weeks of pressure from Democratic legislators and party donors who were concerned about his ability to defeat President Donald Trump.
He famously endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who secured the Democratic nomination but, with just months to organize an entire campaign, ultimately lost the election in November.
Downplaying His Debate Performance
Even though Biden acknowledged that he would have abandoned his campaign had he known about the cancer, the former president still disputes the significance of his famously disastrous debate performance on June 27, 2024.
During that debate, Biden repeatedly slurred his words and struggled to complete his sentences.
He frequently failed to answer questions coherently and, at various points, prompted his opponent, President Trump, to express his concern.
Biden told People magazine that he still expected another debate and did not believe the first one had fundamentally changed the election campaign at that point.
“Look, I don’t know anybody who hasn’t made a mistake in a debate,” he said. “To me, it was not very consequential. First of all, I thought there’d be another debate, which there wasn’t. But even though there wasn’t another debate, it didn’t disturb me because it wasn’t consequential.”
But few would agree with the former president — and not just Republicans.
Democrats Were Concerned
The debate was, in fact, the turning point of the election for Joe Biden.
It triggered an immediate crisis within the Democratic Party, with lawmakers and major donors publicly questioning whether the president could still defeat Trump in November.
On July 2, Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first member of Congress to call for the president to withdraw from the race, arguing that the debate had failed to reverse the president’s declining prospects and only strengthened the Trump campaign’s messaging about Biden’s health.
Then came the bigwigs, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly questioning the president’s health and candidacy on July 10, despite Biden’s insistence that he intended to remain in the race.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi told ‘Morning Joe’.
“We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
She added that he still had the overwhelming support of the Democratic caucus, that he was “beloved,” and that “people want him to make that decision.”
It was a clear indication that Pelosi was losing confidence in the president.
Vermont Democratic Senator Peter Welch then became the first Democratic senator to demand the president withdraw, and major Democratic donor George Clooney published an opinion piece in The New York Times urging the president to step aside.
The former president may well have stepped down had he known about his cancer, but his suggestion that his debate performance was not consequential conflicts with what his own colleagues said at the time.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, and he produces and edits analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
