HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TRAGIC BIDEN UPDATE?
Hunter Biden Says Joe Biden's Cancer Has Spread Further - But Key Details Remain Unknown
The former president's family is describing a painful new stage in his illness while stopping short of saying where the cancer has spread beyond his bones.
A deeply personal interview has provided a troubling new glimpse into former President Joe Biden's cancer battle as his family continues to rally around him.
His son, Hunter Biden, became emotional while describing what the family has been watching behind closed doors.
The central update was stark: Hunter said his father's prostate cancer has "metastasized into his bones and further" and is now causing significant pain.
"It's really sad to watch," Hunter told BBC Newsnight interviewer Paddy O'Connell in an interview released Friday.
He described the disease as "very painful" and "very debilitating."
But there is an important limit to what is publicly known.
Hunter did not identify where the cancer may have spread beyond the bones, and Joe Biden's office has not publicly disclosed additional sites of metastasis.
That distinction matters because Biden's original diagnosis was already serious.
In May 2025, several months after leaving the White House, Biden's office announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 and metastasis to the bone.
His office said at the time that the cancer appeared to be hormone-sensitive, allowing doctors to pursue treatment aimed at managing the disease.
Biden later underwent hormone treatment and radiation therapy.
Hunter's latest comments do not establish that those treatments failed, nor do they provide a new medical prognosis.
What they do provide is a more personal description of the toll the illness is taking.
"The only thing that I'd say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it's not good," Hunter said.
Despite the pain, Hunter said his father remains active and continues following public affairs.
"He's still doing his thing," Hunter said. "He so believes in this country."
Former first lady Jill Biden has offered a similar picture in recent months.
During a June appearance on ABC's "The View," she said her husband was "doing okay" and continuing to keep a schedule and make speaking appearances, while acknowledging that cancer had been difficult for him and the family.
In another June discussion, Jill said he had "slowed down" as he dealt with stage 4 cancer, treatment and the effects of medication.
That combination - a serious illness alongside continued public activity - is one reason Hunter's
comments drew attention.
Joe Biden has maintained a more limited public profile since leaving office, but he has continued to appear at selected political and public events.
For Hunter, however, the most important role remains a private one.
He called his father the "best father, the best husband, the best grandfather" and said Biden remains at the "center of our family."
The interview then moved from Joe Biden's illness to another long-running source of pain for the family: Hunter's addiction.
When O'Connell asked whether his years of drug addiction had made his father's life and health worse, Hunter answered directly.
"Of course I did," he said. "That's what addiction does."
Hunter said his struggles affected Jill Biden, his children, other relatives and personal relationships, but he emphasized the impact on his father, "who never let go."
He recalled that Joe Biden refused to excuse his behavior while also making clear that the door would remain open when Hunter was ready to return.
"That is the singular thing that saved me - that the door was left open," Hunter said.
That experience also shaped Hunter's rejection of a common idea about addiction recovery.
He argued that families should not assume an addicted person must be allowed to hit "rock bottom," saying that people he knew who reached that point were "either dead or in jail."
Hunter's addiction, including his use of crack cocaine, has been publicly documented for years and was discussed extensively in his 2021 memoir, "Beautiful Things."
The Biden family had already endured another devastating encounter with cancer before Joe Biden's diagnosis.
His eldest son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.
Hunter framed his father's response to his addiction in terms of both support and responsibility.
"Unconditional love doesn't mean love without consequences," he said. "It doesn't mean love without accountability."
The BBC interview also returned to one of the defining moments of Joe Biden's final presidential campaign.
Hunter said he was watching from his home in California when his father debated Donald Trump on June 27, 2024.
"Like everybody else, I was shocked," Hunter said, adding that he could tell as soon as his father appeared that "something was wrong."
The debate intensified existing concerns about Biden's age and fitness for another term and helped trigger mounting pressure from Democrats for him to leave the race.
Biden ultimately withdrew on July 21, 2024.
Hunter has since noted that his father's stage 4 cancer was not diagnosed until months later, but the interview did not establish that the cancer caused Biden's debate performance.
That is another distinction worth keeping clear.
A difficult debate performance is a political fact. An advanced cancer diagnosis months later is a medical fact. Connecting the two as cause and effect would require evidence that has not been made public.
The former president is now preparing another public account of his years in office.
His memoir, "Promise Me, America," is scheduled for release on November 17, shortly after the 2026 midterm elections.
The book is expected to address his presidency, his decision to seek reelection and his eventual decision to step aside.
For now, however, the more immediate story is not political strategy or legacy.
It is the health of an 83-year-old former president whose family says he is living with a painful, advanced cancer while still trying to remain engaged with public life.
Hunter's interview settled one point: Joe Biden's illness is taking a significant physical and emotional toll.
May you like
What it did not settle is how far the cancer has spread beyond the bones, how his doctors assess the latest progression, or what the next stage of treatment will look like.
For the Biden family, those unanswered questions matter more than the political speculation surrounding his final years in public life.
