Vice President JD Vance expressed concern that former President Joe Biden was not “capable of doing the job” when he was in office, fueling the MAGA conspiracy about a “cover-up” of Biden‘s illness.
After wishing Biden a “right recovery” following the news of the former president’s cancer diagnosis, the vice president wasted no time telling reporters on Air Force 2 Monday that he didn‘t think Biden was “able to do a good job for the American people.”
JD Vance’s reaction to Biden’s cancer diagnosis: “Whether the right time to have this conversation is now or some time in the future, we really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job.” pic.twitter.com/VSUrPfaEg9
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 19, 2025
“Look, I will say, whether the right time to have this conversation is now or at some point in the future, we really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job,” he said.
The vice president, who was returning from a trip to Rome to meet with Pope Leo XIV, added that “we can pray for good health, but also recognize that if you’re not in good enough health to do the job, you shouldn‘t be doing the job.”
He noted how “this is the guy who carries around the nuclear football for the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, this is not child’s play.”
“And that’s not politics, that’s not because I disagreed with him on policy, that’s because I don‘t think he was in good enough health,” Vance said. “In some ways I blame him less than I blame the people around him.”
Biden‘s office announced in a statement Sunday that the former president was diagnosed with a “more aggressive form” of prostate cancer Friday.
Since then, MAGA conspiracy theories around Biden‘s cancer being a “cover-up” have spread like wildfire online.
Hours after the announcement, right-wing agitator Laura Loomer claimed that “as I reported several months ago, Biden has been terminally ill for a long time,” and “it’s just been kept a secret.”
Joe Biden has been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. As I reported several months ago, Biden has been terminally ill for a long time. It’s just been kept a secret. Terminal means 6 months to 1 year to live. Of course, there’s always outliers. But in July of 2024, I reported on… https://t.co/B0GAxrSHx4 pic.twitter.com/EvYfgfNrug
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 18, 2025
Donald Trump Jr. also added in his own two-cents to the theories.
“What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???” he wrote on X Sunday in a now pinned post.
Prior to this, he reposted an image of Biden with the caption“politics aside, we wish him a speedy recovery,” writing that he “agreed 100%.”
He also shared a clip Monday of Biden allegedly claiming to have cancer in 2022, writing that “Joe says he had cancer 2 years ago & everyone said it’s a gaffe. When he clearly had dementia, everyone said he’s lucid. Now that he’s no longer useful they’re all shocked that they missed it.”
He added: “Everyone was in on the cover-up! Who was running the country? We need accountability!”
Joe says he had cancer 2 years ago & everyone said it’s a gaffe. When he clearly had dementia, everyone said he’s lucid. Now that he’s no longer useful they’re all shocked that they missed it.Everyone was in on the cover-up! Who was running the country? We need accountability! pic.twitter.com/D70nzmsstx
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 19, 2025
The widely-circulated clip showed Biden at a press conference in Somerset, Massachusetts, three years ago, addressing the impact pollution from fossil-fuel power plants had on the health of the surrounding community.
“That’s why I, and so damn many other people I grew up with, have cancer,” the former president said.
The “gaffe” was quickly picked up by conservatives online who claimed that Biden was unfit to serve, but Andrew Bates, the White House deputy secretary at the time, shut down any rumors about Biden‘s health.
He responded to a tweet by Washington Post journalist Glenn Kessler that read: “Check out Biden‘s medical report. Before he became president, he’d had non-melanoma skin cancers removed.”
“This is what the President was referring to,” Bates replied.
This is what the President was referring to. https://t.co/8F0NGTei6f
— Andrew Bates Archived (@AndrewJBates46) July 20, 2022
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