Did Biden hide his cancer?

The Washington Post reports on growing speculation in the United States over former US President Joe Biden's recent diagnosis with cancer.

The question that is increasingly being raised is whether Biden has long known about this diagnosis — but has chosen to keep it secret — or whether the news was only recently revealed, without prior knowledge on his part.

The topic has sparked widespread debate in American political and media circles, especially given Biden's age and ongoing concerns about his health and mental health. The president is currently 82 and seeking a second term, making transparency about his health a matter of public importance.

Read too Trump on Biden's cancer diagnosis: We need to investigate why we didn't know much sooner

US President Donald Trump immediately reacted, making a strange and inaccurate comment: “It’s stage 9,” he said, likely confusing the cancer stages with the Gleason score of 9/10, which is actually used to describe the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Such a score indicates a very aggressive form of the disease.

"This is the same doctor who said Biden was in good mental health. Turns out he wasn't. This is dangerous," Trump added, striking an accusatory tone not only toward the former president but also toward his medical team.

The harshest criticism came from Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson, who once served as a White House physician. He publicly accused Biden's current doctor of a "political cover-up" and said that American citizens have a right to know the truth about their president's health, especially if it involves a serious illness like cancer.

On the other hand, some oncologists claim that it is "highly likely" that Biden has had this condition since 2021, linking it to previous medical tests and checkups.

Read too Biden breaks silence after revealing he is battling 'aggressive' prostate cancer

Meanwhile, other specialists warn that even the most aggressive cancers can appear suddenly and without obvious symptoms, which can make it very difficult for an individual — even a president — to realize they are ill without regular examinations.

This situation has revived the old debate about the ethics of transparency in politics: How much should the public know about the health of a state leader? And to what extent is it considered ethical — or unethical — to speculate publicly about someone's health, especially when that person has held major national and international responsibilities? /Telegraph/