Biden's cancer diagnosis raises the question: Was he ever in good enough health? | Opinion
In addition to former President Joe Biden's medical diagnosis, we recently heard confirmation that his cognitive decline while in the White House was even worse than suspected.
On May 18, Americans learned that former President Joe Biden has stage 4 cancer that has, unfortunately, metastasized to his bones.
It's sad that Biden, who for decades served our nation as a senator, vice president and president, now faces a life-threatening illness only four months after leaving the White House.
But I can't help but think about what Democratic Party leaders and much of the news media told Americans only a year ago. Biden was then portrayed as "active" and "robust." He was more than ready, according to the Democratic Party, for four more years as commander in chief, even as he approached his 82nd birthday.
And his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, dismissed legitimate questions about whether he should take a cognitive test. Biden "passes a cognitive test every day," she claimed in February 2024.
Then came the devastating debate with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Americans could clearly see for themselves just how unready and unsteady their president was, with four more years suddenly out of the question.
So, I have questions for the Democratic Party. When did Democratic leaders know that Biden was incapable of serving a second term? Why did they insist on a debate with Trump so early in the election year? Was the debate a fail-safe before the party's convention in case Biden proved to be as shaky as we all eventually witnessed? Why should voters trust that the party will tell them the truth in the future?
The American people have a right to answers.
Biden's decline was obvious, but Democrats denied it
In addition to Biden's cancer diagnosis, we recently heard confirmation that the former president's cognitive decline was even worse than suspected.
On May 16, Axios released audio of Special Counsel Robert Hur's October 2023 interviews with Biden. The audio reveals something the transcript didn't show − long, uncomfortable pauses when Biden struggled to recall important and personal memories.
Hur decided not to prosecute Biden for improperly possessing classified documents because the special counsel thought a jury would view the president as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
That raised justified questions about whether Biden was competent enough to serve as president. But Democrats and much of the media brushed aside those concerns.
On May 20, journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson will release their much-anticipated book, "Original Sin," which details Biden's decline and the efforts inside the White House and the Democratic Party to hide the truth from Americans.
Conservatives were right to be suspicious a year ago about Biden's health. But why weren't more journalists asking tough questions at the time? Why weren't Democratic leaders pressing for the good of their party and the country for Biden to step aside long before the debate debacle?
Democrats tried to hide the truth about Biden
If the news media and the Democratic Party leadership had done their jobs, it's very possible there would have been an open primary last year. Vice President Kamala Harris would have been the favorite to get the nomination, but Democratic voters, not the party's leadership, would have made that choice. And if Harris had secured the nomination through an open primary, with intra-party debates and grassroots campaigning, she may have been a much stronger candidate in the fall.
Instead, Democratic leaders tried to hide the truth about Biden. As a result, they got what they feared the most − a second Trump presidency.
While I'm sympathetic to Biden and his family as they confront this new health crisis, I echo what Vice President JD Vance said about the cancer diagnosis: "We really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job... I don't think that he was in good enough health. In some ways, I blame him less than I blame the people around him."
I also blame the people around Biden, who put our nation at risk and further eroded the public's trust in our government in an attempt to hold on to power.
The Democratic Party's leaders have shown us that they can't be trusted − a year ago, now and in the future.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with Paste BN. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.