Biden Calls Claims He Hid His Cancer Diagnosis 'Absurd' in New Memoir Excerpt

WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden has rejected claims that he concealed his prostate cancer diagnosis while he was in the White House, calling the suggestion “absurd” in a new excerpt from his memoir, Promise Me, America.

“For anyone to think I would try to ignore or hide a cancer ravaging my body is absurd,” Biden writes in the passage, published on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. “Here are the simple facts. Standard medical protocol is to stop testing men for prostate cancer after the age of seventy.”

It is the second excerpt in as many days. The first, published by The Atlantic on Monday, focused on Donald Trump’s warm private tone at their post-election meeting. This one turns to the question that has followed Biden since his diagnosis was revealed in May 2025: did he know, and did he hide it? His answer is blunt: he was treated like other older Americans, and nobody living with stage 4 cancer would wish it had been found any later. The book is out on November 17, 2026.

Key Points

• Joe Biden calls claims that he hid his prostate cancer diagnosis while president “absurd” in a new excerpt from Promise Me, America.
• “There isn’t anyone in this world with stage 4 cancer who doesn’t wish it had been caught sooner,” he writes.
• Biden says standard medical protocol stops routine prostate cancer testing for men after the age of 70.
• He was diagnosed in May 2025 with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, Gleason score 9, that had spread to his bones.
• The memoir is out on November 17, 2026; Biden said on Sunday the cancer will limit its promotion.

What Happened

The new excerpt was published on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, a day after The Atlantic carried the first passage from the book. In it, Biden addresses the suspicion that has circulated among commentators since his office announced the diagnosis: that a president could not have had such an advanced cancer without knowing, and that the public was kept in the dark.

“What did surprise me was the cynical twist the story took in the political press and among political commentators,” he writes. “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.”

Biden said on Sunday that the disease will limit promotion of the book: he “won’t be able to do as many conversations” about it as he had hoped. “Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down,” he said.

Background: A Diagnosis That Shadowed a Presidency

Biden served as president from January 2021 to January 2025. He stepped aside as the Democratic nominee in the summer of 2024 after a disastrous debate performance, clearing the way for Kamala Harris, who lost the election to Donald Trump. The memoir is his first full account of those four years, including the personal deliberations behind his decision first to run for re-election and then to end his campaign.

His office revealed the prostate cancer diagnosis in May 2025, less than four months after he left the White House, describing it as a “more aggressive” form of the disease that was nonetheless hormone-sensitive. The cancer had already spread to his bones, and in August his son Hunter Biden told the BBC that it had “metastasized into his bones and further.” The diagnosis carried a Gleason score of 9. Because the cancer was so advanced when found, some commentators argued that it must have been present, and detectable, while Biden was still in office. Biden turns 84 on November 20, 2026, and is the oldest living former president in American history.

The Biden Cancer Diagnosis: What the Memoir Says

The heart of the new excerpt is Biden’s insistence that there was nothing to hide and no reason to hide it. A man facing a disease that had already reached his bones, he argues, would have wanted it found earlier, not later. The passage frames the claim as political cynicism, not medical evidence, and answers it with the facts of his care: he was treated under the same rules as other men his age, and the rules say routine testing stops at 70.

Reactions and Quotes

Biden’s own words dominate the new excerpt. “For anyone to think I would try to ignore or hide a cancer ravaging my body is absurd,” he writes, in the line that has travelled furthest since the passage appeared. It is the most direct rebuttal he has offered since the diagnosis was announced, aimed squarely at the suggestion that he deceived the public.

Why It Matters

The concealment question has shadowed every assessment of Biden’s presidency since May 2025, colouring how his decision to seek re-election is judged and how the Democratic Party’s handling of the 2024 race is remembered. Until now, the answer has come from his office and his family. Now it comes from Biden himself, in the book that will stand as his own record of his presidency. The timing adds weight: the book reaches shops on November 17, a week after a midterm election that returned Democrats to power in Congress, and three days before Biden’s 84th birthday. The passage also matters as public health communication, since prostate cancer screening for older men is contested, and Biden’s case has put it before a national audience.

What Happens Next

Promise Me, America is released on November 17, 2026, and the full text will show how much of the book is devoted to the diagnosis and how candid Biden is about stepping aside in 2024. More excerpts are likely before publication, and Biden’s reduced schedule means fewer interviews than a memoir of this importance would normally command. The debate over what he knew, and when, will not end with this excerpt, but it will now have to contend with his answer: that the idea he hid a cancer ravaging his body is absurd.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Joe Biden say about claims he hid his cancer diagnosis?

In a new excerpt published on November 10, 2026, Biden called the claims “absurd”.

When was Joe Biden diagnosed with prostate cancer?

His office revealed it in May 2025, less than four months after he left the White House: an aggressive form, Gleason score 9, that had already spread to his bones.

Why was Joe Biden not screened for prostate cancer?

Biden writes that standard protocol stops routine prostate cancer testing in men after the age of 70, and that he was treated like other older Americans.

When is Promise Me, America published?

On November 17, 2026. The Atlantic published the first excerpt on November 9, and the cancer passage appeared on November 10.

What did the first excerpt from the memoir reveal?

It described Donald Trump’s tone toward Biden at their post-election White House meeting as “fawning”.

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