Republicans keep clinging to Biden's health to ignore Trump's decline | Opinion
Let me remind everyone that Joe Biden is out of politics, while Donald Trump – the guy babbling incoherently about Bruce Springsteen, Oprah and Bono – has the nuclear codes.
I'll always remember where I was on May 19, 2025, when every Republican in America became a urologic oncologist with a deep and specific expertise in former President Joe Biden's prostate.
That was the moment a shiny new right-wing conspiracy theory was born. Biden’s announcement that he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer was instantly turned into a scandal, with everyone from Vice President JD Vance to one of President Donald Trump’s sons suggesting the diagnosis must have been part of an elaborate cover-up.
“We really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job,” Vance said, ignoring his administration’s flailing incompetence and the fact that the economy under Biden was considerably better than it is now.
The perpetually loathsome Trump offspring, Donald Trump Jr., posted this on social media: “What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???” He was clearly mocking Biden’s wife, who is a teacher and not a medical doctor, while also making himself look even stupider – there’s no such thing as “stage five” cancer.
Now every Republican is an expert on prostate cancer, right?
Widespread idiocy aside, the basis for an alleged cover-up is faulty at best. The Washington Post interviewed Otis Brawley, a Johns Hopkins University oncologist who treats people with metastatic prostate cancer, and reported that "it’s not surprising if previous prostate exams or screening while Biden was president failed to turn up indications of cancer," and "this happens all the time.”
But on a broader “things we should be worrying about right now” level, the folks preoccupied with the health of a former Democratic president who dropped out of last year’s presidential race over concerns about his age might want to focus on this: The current 78-year-old Republican president is up at all hours of the night ranting like a lunatic about launching an investigation into Bruce Springsteen and other celebrities when he's not busy tanking the economy.
Trump's unhinged late-night social media rants should be concerning
Over the weekend, Trump posted this on social media, and I truly wish I were making it up:
“HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? …AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO??? I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter. Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment. In addition, this was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds. IT’S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic ‘entertainers,’ this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”
Speaking of mental decline, listen to Donald Trump speak
Let me remind everyone that Biden is out of politics, while this guy, the guy you would slowly walk away from if he came up to you on the street and started babbling about Springsteen, Oprah Winfrey and Bono, has the nuclear codes.
On his recent Middle East trip, Trump told the United Arab Emirates president: “They have a term ‘groceries,' it's an old term, but it means basically what you're buying, food, it's a pretty accurate term, but it's an old-fashioned sound, but groceries are down.”
The current president – the one who’s openly defying a U.S. Supreme Court order while brutalizing U.S. businesses with random and ever-changing tariffs – thinks “groceries” is an old-timey word that few presently understand.
The president randomly rails against Springsteen and you're only worried about Biden?
His initial beef with Springsteen – one of America’s most beloved musicians – started after the Boss criticized the Trump administration during a concert overseas. Trump responded with the kind of cool, calm demeanor one hopes to see from a commander-in-chief:
“I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country. If I wasn’t elected, it would have been GONE by now! Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is ‘dumb as a rock,’ and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just “standard fare.” Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
Biden is out of power. Trump is in power. That's where the focus should be.
Now, if Joe Biden was posting stuff like that when he was in office, I would’ve been quick to say: “Yeah, we better check this guy’s cognitive abilities because it appears the cheese slid off his Ritz.”
But there are no Republicans raising questions about Trump or suggesting his advanced age might be an issue. Instead, they’re raising questions about Biden, who, again, IS NOT THE PRESIDENT and removed himself from the presidential race months before the election.
None of this is to say there aren’t legitimate concerns about attempts to downplay Biden’s cognitive decline while he was president and before he made the decision to exit the race. Those are fair questions, and they should be answered, but any concern is tempered by the fact that the country was in far better shape under Biden than it is now.
And if you’re howling about Biden and not howling at least equally as loud about the dude who currently has his tiny mittens on the levers of American power, you’re kind of telling on yourself.
There’s no need to gin up a scandal when one is dangerously unfolding in front of our faces. I’m sure that dried-out prune of a rocker, Bruce Springsteen, would agree with me.
Follow Paste BN columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk