While addressing the nation from Massachusetts on Wednesday regarding climate change, President Joe Biden said he has cancer.
In remarks at the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, Biden discussed how oil pollution had affected the town of Claymont, Delaware, where he lived for a few years as a child.
The president said a nearby area had “more oil refineries than Houston, Texas,” and “all the prevailing winds were our way.”
He then told a story about his mother driving him and his siblings to school.
“Because it was a four-lane highway that was accessible, my mother drove us rather than us be able to walk,” Biden said. “And guess what? The first frost, you know what was happening?
“You had to put on your windshield wipers to get, literally, the oil slick off the window. That’s why I and so so damn many other people I grew up with have cancer.”
That statement led to confusion and speculation about the president’s health.
It’s hard to tell if Joe Biden actually has cancer, is compulsively lying again, or is just struggling with dementia. https://t.co/cvE03r3VfE
— Corinne Clark Barron (@corinnec) July 20, 2022
According to a November 2021 memorandum from Physician to the President Kevin O’Conner, Biden had “several non-melanoma skin cancers removed” in the past.
It is unclear whether this was the “cancer” to which he referred on Wednesday. Even if it was, it is still unclear why he would use the present tense in his comment.
Team Biden endorses the idea that the president was referring to the “non-melanoma skin cancers” that were removed.
But Biden spoke about it in the present tense: “That’s why I and so damn many other people I grew up with have cancer.” pic.twitter.com/juf9lhVfpY
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) July 20, 2022
If Biden was revealing that he now has cancer, it would certainly be a major announcement coming from the president of the United States and leader of the free world.
However, given his propensity to misspeak and/or say things that are categorically untrue, Americans were unable to determine the veracity of his statement.
“Im confused by his speech today… Does Joe Biden have cancer or dementia?” Washington Times columnist and comedian Tim Young wrote on Twitter.
Im confused by his speech today… Does Joe Biden have cancer or dementia?
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) July 20, 2022
Meanwhile, Christopher Bedford, senior editor of The Federalist, chalked up Biden’s claim to another lie from a career politician.
“For a second I thought Biden had cancer, then I remembered he’s senile and likes telling make-believe stories about the life he had before he was elected to the U.S. Senate FIFTY YEARS ago this November,” Bedford said.
For a second I thought Biden had cancer, then I remembered he’s senile and likes telling make-believe stories about the life he had before he was elected to the U.S. Senate FIFTY YEARS ago this November. https://t.co/LdCzoB7VL6
— Christopher Bedford (@CBedfordDC) July 20, 2022
Whether or not Biden has cancer, the incident underlines the massive concerns that come with having a president who is not mentally sharp.
When he makes an outlandish claim, Americans are often unable to determine whether it is a deliberate falsehood, an accidental gaffe or a true statement.
The Western Journal reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In any case, Biden’s declaration about cancer on Wednesday is yet another in a long line of confusing statements from the 79-year-old commander in chief.
