Jill Biden told viewers Monday that her husband, former President Joe Biden, has cancer that has spread to his bones and that he will live with it for the rest of his life, while also pushing back on claims from prominent Democrats about his fitness during the
For Jill Biden, the hardest part of Monday’s message wasn’t that Joe Biden has cancer. It was how long the fight will last.
She told host Craig Melvin on the “Today Show” that her husband is “doing OK,” and that the prognosis is now measured in years, not milestones.
“[If] he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer, that can be cured,” she said. But the shift came when the disease moved beyond the prostate. “The fact that the cancer has metastasized to his bones makes it a whole different story.”
“So I think Joe will live with cancer ’til the rest of his life,” Jill Biden added.
The former president was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in May 2025 after he reported urinary symptoms to his doctors. When Biden announced the diagnosis, his office said the cancer cells had spread to his bones. It also said that while “this represents a more aggressive form of the disease. ” the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive. allowing for “effective management. ” and that “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”.
His office also revealed that his prostate cancer was among the most aggressive.
Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center told The Associated Press that people with metastatic prostate cancer can expect to live for four to five years—an estimate that underscores the weight Jill Biden carried into her interview, even as she emphasized that he is doing OK.
Jill Biden’s comments came as she continues a press tour promoting her new book, “View from the East Wing,” in which she details her time alongside her husband during his presidency.
In that book, she writes about watching the disastrous June 2024 debate with Donald Trump. The Atlantic reported that she described thinking he might be having a stroke. writing. “Is he short-circuiting?” and asking. “Is this a stroke?. … I felt like we were watching an AI hologram of the man we knew, and the hologram was glitching. Has he been drugged?”.
On Monday, the former first lady also rejected a competing narrative about Joe Biden’s fitness—one amplified by prominent Democrats including actor George Clooney and former special counsel Robert Hur, who argued he wasn’t fit to be president.
“He aged,” Jill Biden said on the “Today Show.” “He did. He got older, and we all saw him aging. You know, there were the words that he would forget. But we were all aging.”
Between the new disclosure about metastatic cancer and Jill Biden’s insistence that aging—rather than something more sinister—explains what she saw in 2024. the message landed with the same blunt clarity: the story is not just about a campaign or a debate. It’s about time, and what comes next for a family still managing the consequences in public.
An administrative note from earlier in the year remains central to how Biden’s medical situation is described: the disease is hormone-sensitive and can be managed. But Jill Biden’s Monday declaration—“the rest of his life”—turns management into a lifelong reality. even for a former president who has been determined to keep moving.
Jill Biden Joe Biden prostate cancer Stage 4 cancer metastatic cancer bones hormone-sensitive Today Show Craig Melvin View from the East Wing June 2024 debate Donald Trump George Clooney Robert Hur
So it’s basically incurable then, right?
Wait I thought prostate cancer was like usually beatable? “Doing OK” just feels like PR talk though, like they’re trying to calm everyone down.
Metastasized to bones sounds terrifying, but then they say it’s hormone-sensitive so… is that why she said years? I don’t get how it can be “aggressive” but also “effective management.”
Honestly I’m confused because I saw another clip where it sounded like he was getting treated already, like radiation or something. If it’s been “since May 2025” why are they just now talking about prognosis? Also everyone keeps arguing about his fitness like that matters more than the cancer itself, smh.