Joe Biden said he would have abandoned his 2024 re-election bid had he known about his cancer. He also defended his presidential fitness and the pardon granted to Hunter Biden.Atlanta,Nov 11, 2026 22:18 ISTFormer US president Joe Biden has said he did not know he had cancer while in office and would not have sought a second term if he had already been diagnosed.Biden, who ended his 2024 re-election campaign after a poor debate performance against Republican Donald Trump, also defended his ability to serve as president and his decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden.His comments came in an interview with People magazine ahead of the release of his White House memoir on Tuesday.

Biden, who turns 84 on November 20, was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer months after leaving office in 2025.“If I had known that I was feeling lousy because I had cancer, I would've not gone forward,” Biden said about his re-election bid. “I don't think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running” for president, he added. However, Biden said the June 2024 debate, held less than five months before Election Day, was not a major event, even though it intensified concerns among Democrats about his age and ability to defeat Trump.

Biden was 81 at the time.“First of all, I thought there'd be another debate, which there wasn't,” he said. “But notwithstanding the fact that there wasn't another debate, it didn't disturb me because it wasn't consequential.” Within weeks of the debate, Biden ended his campaign and endorsed his vice-president, Kamala Harris. She secured the Democratic nomination but lost to Trump in the general election.Biden insisted that he had been able to perform his duties while in office.

He said age alone was not a disqualification and that it had given him experience and strong personal relationships with world leaders. “I believe that on an objective basis, I was the best-equipped person to do the job,” he said.Hunter Biden told the BBC in August that the cancer had spread and was causing his father pain. “It's very painful and it's very debilitating in many respects,” he said.Since Joe Biden left office, Hunter Biden has taken on a more prominent public role. He has sparred with Republicans on social media, posted lengthy views on the direction of the country and launched his own cryptocurrency.Joe Biden defended his son's public persona and his decision to pardon him after Hunter Biden's 2024 conviction on federal felony gun charges and his guilty plea to federal tax charges.

Hunter Biden had also faced years of scrutiny and sharp Republican attacks over his international business dealings.Hunter Biden has said the pardon damaged his father's legacy, but Joe Biden said Trump's tendency to seek vengeance had made it necessary. “He goes after people without any basis, whether they're viewed as an enemy. I knew what he would do,” Biden said. “If I hadn't pardoned — not just some of my family members, anyone who's dealt with me — he would go back and try to do harm to them.”Biden called his son “one of the brightest men I know”, adding, “I'm really proud of him.”Biden maintained that he was fit to serve while in office but said he would not have run for re-election had he known about his cancer.

He also stood by his pardon of Hunter Biden, saying it was intended to protect his son and others associated with him.With PTI Inputs- Ends