‘We ended cancer,’ Biden falsely claims in latest gaffe
President Biden was mocked by critics after he claimed to have “ended cancer as we know it” during remarks Tuesday.
Biden, 80, made the misstatement during a White House speech about expanding access to mental health treatment.
“I said I’d cure cancer,” he claimed. “They looked at me like, why cancer? Because no one thinks we can. That’s why, and we can.
“We ended cancer as we know it,” added Biden, slurring the last sentence.
White House officials tried to clean up the comment in the official transcript of the speech, which was written as if Biden said “We can end cancer as we know it.”
Last year, the Democrat announced the “ambitious” goal of halving cancer deaths in the US over the next 25 years. The initiative was centered on early diagnoses, prevention and improved treatments, according to the White House.
The American Cancer Society projected that 2023 would see 1,958,310 new cancer cases in the US and 609,820 deaths.
Biden himself had a brush with the disease this winter, when he had a cancerous legion removed from his chest during his annual checkup. His son Beau Biden succumbed to brain cancer in 2015.
Conservative media pundits and politicians reacted with sarcasm and concern for the octogenarian leader, who is seeking another four-year term which would begin in 2025.
“JUST IN: President Joe Biden has officially cured cancer according to President Joe Biden. What an amazing day for people all around the world,” tweeted Collin Rugg, co-owner of conservative news site Trending Politics.
The Media Research Center, a right-wing media watchdog, shared the clip with the caption: “Fact-Check: Joe Biden has not cured cancer.”
“Biden just told everyone that he cured cancer. I feel like that would have at least gotten a press release,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) tweeted.
“Who is briefing him and what are they telling him and why haven’t adults intervened?” added Omri Ceren, national security adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
In the same speech, Biden made another outrageous misstatement that was whitewashed by the White House.
“We’re still feeling the profound loss of the [COVID-19] pandemic. As I mentioned, we have over 100 people dead,” he said, referring to the low number again seconds later.
“That’s 100 empty chairs around the kitchen table. Every single loss, there are so many people left behind and broken-hearted,” he continued.
In reality, more than 1.1 million Americans were killed by the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The official transcript of the speech noted Biden’s error by striking through the “100” number and indicating he had meant to say “over 1 million” people died.
Biden’s speech outlined the proposal of new rules meant to push insurance companies to increase their coverage of mental health treatment.
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