It didn’t take MAGA world long to hurl insults and conspiracy theories after learning former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
While progressive and conservative politicians and pundits alike were quick to offer wishes for a speedy recovery, Trump’s most ardent supporters — and his own son — wasted no time posting an array of accusations and criticisms aimed at the 82-year-old Biden, his wife, Jill Biden, and his inner circle.
“What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???” Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son, queried on X.
“This is an effort to push the fact Biden was running the country as a vegetable under the rug,” one commenter said.
“Without question,” Trump Jr. replied.
Other observers savaged MAGA supporters for using Biden’s medical diagnosis as an opportunity to score political points.
“The Trump family is already attacking Joe Biden for being diagnosed with cancer. There is no low too low for these people,” MSNBC contributor and political commentator Brian Taylor Cohen commented on X.
The deluge of responses, both negative and positive, began with the May 18 announcement from Biden’s personal office that “a more aggressive form” of prostate cancer had been detected in the former president and that it had metastasized to his bones. However, “the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.”
Biden followed with a post expressing gratitude for the encouragement he has received since news of his diagnosis was reported.
“Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”
The Bidens lost a 46-year-old son, Beau, to brain cancer, in 2015.
In typical form, politicians from both sides of the aisle communicated wishes for Joe Biden’s recovery.
Former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said she and her husband, Doug Emhoff, are keeping Biden and his wife “in our hearts and our prayers during this time.”
Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton offered well wishes and praise for Biden. “Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace. We pray for a fast and full recovery,” Obama said.
Some conservatives were supportive as well, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia.
“I’m sorry to see this news,” Taylor Greene said. “Cancer is truly awful. My Dad passed away in 2021 with cancer. Prayers for Joe Biden and his family.”
Donald Trump answsering reporters’ questions about Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis. (Screencap from Fox News)
Even President Trump said he hoped for the best for his White House predecessor in an official post: “Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
However, later in the day, the current president repeated MAGA conspiracy theories about Biden in an interview with Fox News which reported the following verbatim:
Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Trump called the news “very sad, actually.”
“I’m surprised that … you know, the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine (sic), that’s a long time,” Trump said. “I just had my physical. … We had the doctors at the White House and over at Walter Reed, which is a fantastic hospital. I did a very complete physical, including cognitive tests.”
Trump also referenced Biden’s cognitive decline during his presidency, stating that “anybody running for president should take a cognitive test.”
“They say it’s unconstitutional. But I would say in that particular case, having a cognitive test wouldn’t be so bad,” the Republican said.
Trump also posited that the public “wasn’t informed” about Biden’s medical situation and suggested that the situation should be investigated.
While Trump made Biden’s news about himself, others in Trump’s world laid into Biden more savagely, including Vice President JD Vance, who delivered a rebuke of the former president after wishing him “the best” in his recovery.
“I don’t think he was able to do a good job for the American people. And that’s not politics. That’s not because I disagreed with him on policy. That’s because 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.”
MAGA conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer went for the jugular on X, using the occasion of Biden’s cancer diagnosis to slam the former president along with those wishing for his recovery.
“To all of you praying for Joe Biden, can you pray for the people he killed with his open border policies instead? ‘Ohhhh boo hoo he’s such a good guy booo hooo he’s such a fighter.’ No, he’s not. He is going down in history as the worst US President EVER.”
“Agreed! He’s still evil,” one person commented.
“He is a POS — straight up,” responded another.
U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, pushed the conspiracy theory angle in an interview with Fox Business.
“I feel terrible for anybody that would go through that, even someone who I really don’t like much as Joe Biden … they’re not credible on anything they’ve done … the whole thing was a big coverup, and I suspect this cancer diagnosis is part of that whole scheme.”
But there were those, too, who lamented the vitriol aimed at a man in the midst of struggling with a life-threatening health condition.
Post-evangelical pastor and author Kevin Young responded to a post declaring Biden “will face God’s wrath” if he doesn’t repent.
“Joe Biden is a practicing Christian. Joe Biden announced he is terminally ill today. If your Christianity responds in this way to another Christian (or any human being) on a day like today, then you don’t have Christ in you, you have dogma and death,” said Young, author of Reconstruct Your Faith: Ancient Ways to Make Your Relationship With God Whole Again.
TV host Piers Morgan was clearly disgusted with the Biden hate he was witnessing.
“When did we become so morally malnourished that we forgot how to care?”
“I’m going to block anyone I see — and there’s already a lot of this vile crap flying around — mocking, celebrating or playing partisan politics with Joe Biden’s health news. The man has served his country for 50 years and is fighting for his life. Show some bloody respect.”
TikTok personality and Democratic influencer Harry Sisson took Donald Trump Jr. to task for using the moment to attack Biden’s family and credibility.
“Donald Trump Jr. just made fun of President Biden’s cancer diagnosis. This is where we’re at in American politics. Trump Jr. is a pathetic, reprehensible conman who wouldn’t know decency if it smacked him in the face. Shame on him.”
Cancer survivor and Golf Channel founder Michael Whelan said the attacks on Biden gave him pause because he understood the personal “earthquake” that comes with a life-threatening diagnosis.
“And yet … I see jokes. I see cruelty disguised as memes. I see people using a man’s illness — no matter who he is — as a punchline, as if cancer could ever be funny. As if mortality were a partisan issue. As if dying meant nothing if the person isn’t wearing the right colors. What has happened to us? When did we become so morally malnourished that we forgot how to care?”
Long gone are the days of casseroles and whispered prayers with neighbors after a life-threatening diagnosis, Whelan added.
“Now, we scroll. We judge. We comment with snark and hashtags and venom, and then we scroll on. We measure a man’s worth by his politics instead of his pain. We decide who is deserving of empathy and who is not. Let me say this plainly: Cancer is not a partisan disease.”
Related articles:
This is not Christianity | Opinion by Mark Wingfield
Theologians push back on JD Vance’s view of ‘ordered love’
Why empathy is under assault today | Opinion by Rodney Kennedy