Overview

Joe Biden Prostate Cancer Diagnosis refers to former U.S. President Joe Biden being diagnosed with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer in mid-May 2025. Many online reactions and memes on Twitter / X, Reddit and TikTok, among other social media sites, made light of the situation or humorously celebrated the diagnosis. Controversy arose after a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. about the situation, sparking discourse and outrage among some. Others resurfaced a clip from 2022, when then-President Biden seemingly slipped up and revealed that he had cancer. Some pointed to the clip as evidence that Biden's cancer had been covered up for some time.

Background

On May 18th, 2025, the office of former U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement, saying that "he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone." The condition was described as an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer.^[1]

Online Reactions

The news spread en masse on social media on May 18th, 2025, including a tweet^[2] from British news anchor Piers Morgan, which received over 3 million views and 12,000 likes in a day.

Many shared posts that sympathized with Biden, such as TikToker^[7] @n1v3a on May 18th, who posted a video with text reading, "Regardless of who you voted for, hearing Joe Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer is sad for everybody to hear. If I hear anybody making jokes about this, just know that there is a special place in hell for you." The video gained over 53,600 likes in a day (shown below).

Jokes about the diagnosis spread online at the same time, like a quote-tweet shared by X^[3] user @paynushurts on May 18th, 2025, who said, "Maybe 'Doctor' Jill Biden should have done her job as a wife and milked that thing daily," receiving over 29,000 likes in a day (shown below).

On May 18th, X^[4] user @dunstonchexin tweeted an Impact font meme with a pun for a top caption, reading, "Claims to be pro state." The meme gained over 47,000 likes in a day (shown below).

2022 Clip Resurfacing / Biden Cancer Cover-Up Conspiracy Theory

On May 18th, 2025, X^[8] user @DogRightGirl tweeted an old clip of Joe Biden from 2022, in which he seemingly says that he has cancer like other people of his generation who grew up in Delaware. The user said, "Remember when Biden said he had cancer in 2022?!" receiving over 3,800 likes in a day (shown below).

The tweet was copied and the theory was amplified by the X^[9] account Libs of TikTok later that day in a post that received over 1.3 million views in roughly 24 hours.

Donald Trump Jr.'s Tweet Controversy

On May 18th, 2025, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted,^[5] "What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???" regarding the theory that Biden had prostate cancer when he was in office and those close to the situation covered it up.

The tweet Trump Jr. attached claimed that prostate cancer often takes five to seven years to develop. In a day, the tweet received roughly 3.4 million views and 31,000 likes (shown below).

Many criticized Trump Jr. for the post, such as X^[6] user @RpsAgainstTrump on May 18th, who tweeted a screenshot of the tweet, captioning it, "There’s no bottom for Don Jr. Truly despicable," receiving over 17,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References