How Joe Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis Disrupts the Discourse Around His Failed 2024 Candidacy

Democrats are experiencing an intense bout of whiplash from the Joe Biden news cycle.

New revelations from a highly anticipated book, Original Sin, by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, have reopened old wounds from the 2024 election, with elected officials—and even some 2028 hopefuls—facing uncomfortable questions this past week about Biden’s cognitive decline in office and his fateful decision to run for reelection. Original Sin, which officially hits shelves Tuesday, adds fresh reporting on the race, and follows a couple books, Chris Whipple’s Uncharted and Amie Parnes and Jon Allen’s Fight, which also delved into Biden’s bungled candidacy and the party’s loss to Donald Trump.

It’s a conversation many in Biden’s party would prefer to avoid, and indeed, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg argued that the Democrats are “not in a position to wallow in hindsight” as they’ve got “some fundamental tests for the future of the country and this party.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed a similar sentiment telling reporters on Tuesday, “We’re just looking forward.” Last week, in response to the news cycle, a spokesperson from Biden’s office argued, “We’re still waiting for someone, anyone to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline.”

But such sentiments couldn’t slow a flood of leaks and excerpts detailing previously unreported instances of health lapses, including Biden not recognizing George Clooney at a fundraiser and internal suggestions that he use a wheelchair if elected to a second term. The book also explores the tactics that the White House engaged in to dissuade the media from reporting on said health concerns, including a strategy that encouraged Democratic operatives to attack journalists publicly.

Some Democrats opted to publicly distance themselves from Biden and the administration’s calculated strategy to keep his health decline out of the public eye. During an appearance on Pod Save America, Beto O’Rourke argued that “Biden should not have run again,” in 2024, adding that he “failed this country in the most important job that he had.” In a statement to the Washington Post, Rep. Ro Khanna said, “In my few interactions at public events, I found him coherent and proud of his record, but it is now painfully obvious he should not have run.” Even Buttigieg acknowledged that “maybe” Democrats would’ve been better off if Biden had not run again. Right now, with the benefit of hindsight,” he said, “I think most people would agree that that’s the case.”

The discourse even made its way to Saturday Night Live, where “Weekend Update” coanchor Colin Jost joked that “according to a new tell-all book, Biden’s inner circle reveals that they were worried the president would need a wheelchair in his second term. Especially after they were all done stabbing him in the back.” The following morning, Khanna was on ABC’s This Week reiterating that “obviously, he should not have run,” while over on Meet the Press, Senator Chris Murphy told NBC News’s Kristen Welker that “in retrospect, you can’t defend what the Democratic Party did because we are stuck with a madman, a corrupt president in the Oval Office, and we should’ve given ourselves a better chance to win.”

But the Sunday-show chatter about former president’s fitness and decision-making in the last campaign cycle gave way to the shocking announcement that afternoon that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer which has already metastasized in his bones. “Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on social media, accompanying a photo of him, and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden. “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.”

TV news networks immediately pivoted to breaking news coverage, bringing on health experts and Democratic advisors to discuss the former president’s concerning condition and what this means going forward for the party. Just minutes after the news broke of Biden’s diagnosis, longtime Democratic operative and CNN contributor David Axelrod was on air, arguing that the book’s news cycle should be quieted out of respect for the former president. Discussions about Biden’s health “should be more muted and set aside for now as he’s struggling through this,” Axelrod said. Axelrod himself contributed significantly to Tapper and Thompson’s book, with two chapters specifically dedicated to his actions while Biden was in office.

Whether Democrats are able to truly table the conversation for another time remains to be seen. On Monday morning, Democrats continued to face questions about Biden’s ability to run in 2024. Rep. Josh Gottheimer joined CNN’s John Berman for an interview who asked the congressman, “Separately and respectfully, there are questions right now about former president Biden and his capacity when he was still running for reelection…what do you think the right level of accountability is for Democrats like you running for office on that subject?”

“If the question is, should we make sure that our candidates are up to the job? Of course,” Gottheimer responded. “Listen, when it comes to president Biden, I think we should all focus on his recovery and thinking about him.” The congressman argued that there will be plenty of other times to “talk about what should have been.”