The Department of Justice official suggested Jill Biden could be tried for ‘elder abuse’ following Joe’s cancer diagnosis – while Donald Trump has questioned what was known while he was president
A senior official in Donald Trump’s administration has bizarrely claimed Joe Biden’s wife could be charged with ‘elder abuse’ for covering up his cancer diagnosis.
Former US president Biden revealed this week he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer, with the disease confirmed to have spread to his bones. While the news has prompted what has largely been a supportive response from across the political divide, there have also been a number of right-wing influencers and political figures who have claimed the cancer had been diagnosed while he was still in the the White House and kept secret.
Leo Terrell, who works in the Department of Justice’s civil rights division as a senior counsel, took to X to level the accusations of a cover-up at former First Lady Jill Biden. Sharing a picture of Jill sat behind a desk on Air Force One, he wrote: “Elder abuse! Criminal charges??”
Trump, who had initially responded to the announcement by wishing him a “fast and successful recovery”, appeared to join the chorus of doubters in new comments last night – and also mistakenly claimed Biden has “stage 9” cancer, which does not exist.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, he said: “I think it’s very sad, actually. I’m surprised the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine, that’s a long time.”
Trump also claimed – without providing any evidence – that there are “things going on that the public wasn’t informed of” surrounding Biden’s diagnosis, which he said was “very dangerous”.
He went on to say: “The other thing you have to say is why did it take so long? I mean… this takes a long time, can take years to get to this level of danger. If you take a look, it’s the same doctor that said Joe was cognitively fine, there was nothing wrong with him.”
It follows similar comments made by his son Donald Trump Jr, who wrote on social media: “What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another cover-up???”
Joe Biden’s office responded to the accusations yesterday, and said in a new statement: “Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer.”
A spokesperson also stated that Biden had last taken a Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test, which screens for proteins that can indicate cancer, over a decade ago.
Joe Biden is said to be considering his treatment options, with his form of prostate cancer being “hormone sensitive”, making it more responsive to treatment.
Around 150 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every day in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK, making it the most common type among men. There are currently no clearly established links to preventable risk factors.