President Joe Biden has received significant backlash on social media after claiming his administration had effectively “ended cancer as we know it.”
The remark came during a speech about expanding access to mental health care at the White House on Tuesday.
His bold claim prompted a flurry of criticism from online critics, with some fact-checking the President and others mocking the apparent brazenness of his statement.
Conservative influencers and commentators wasted no time in expressing their skepticism, with State Freedom Caucus Network Communication Director Greg Price writing, “The dementia is so bad that now he thinks he cured cancer.”
Actor Nick Searcy also chimed in, sarcastically quipping, “Hey, @joebiden cured cancer, everybody! He just announced it! He did it with all the money Hunter got him from other countries! He’s a cancer-curing child-sniffing cocaine-doing hero! Bow down, Democrats, to the end of cancer hero!”
National Security Advisor for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Omri Ceren, questioned: “Who is briefing him and what are they telling him and why haven’t adults intervened?” Liz Willis, a former broadcaster who lost her mother to cancer in 2021, expressed her dismay, tweeting, “Idk my mom still seems pretty dead to me.”
Operation Moonshot
During Biden’s 2020 campaign he pledged to “cure cancer”. Investing in research on the disease was a major focus of his administration, and Biden often cited the loss of his son, Beau Biden, to brain cancer in 2015, as a key inspiration for the push.
In 2016, Biden headed the “Cancer Moonshot” program during the Obama administration, aiming to find a cure for cancer. He revived the program in 2022, aiming to reduce the cancer death rate by at least half over the next 25 years and make fatal cancers treatable in the future.
Biden’s statement has fueled further debate on the feasibility of eradicating cancer, which claimed the lives of over 600,000 Americans in 2021.
A Gaffe-Prone Past For Joe Biden
Throughout his long political career, Joe Biden has been known for occasionally misspeaking or stumbling over his words during speeches and interviews. These incidents have often led to criticism and comedic attention.
In August 2019, while addressing the Iowa Asian and Latino Coalition, Biden made an awkward remark, suggesting that low-income children were just as talented as white children. He later clarified his statement but received criticism for the initial phrasing.
On multiple occasions, Biden mistakenly referred to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. as happening in the late 1970s and confused the date of D-Day during a speech.
During an interview with popular radio host Charlamagne Tha God in May 2020, Biden made a controversial statement telling African-Americans that if they couldn’t decide whether to support him or Trump, “you ain’t black.” The remark faced significant backlash for being perceived as condescending and dismissive.
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
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