JD Vance Raises Questions After Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis: ‘This Is Not Child’s Play’

Vice President JD Vance on Monday raised questions about former President Joe Biden’s past fitness for office in light of the recent announcement that Biden has aggressive prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.

Vance targeted people in Biden’s inner circle, who have been accused of covering up the former president’s mental and physical decline from the public, and asked why the American people did not have a “better sense” of Biden’s welfare.

“We wish the best for the former president’s health, and it sounds pretty serious, but hopefully he makes the right recovery,” Vance told reporters. 

“I will say, whether the right time to have this conversation is now, or at some point in the future, we really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job.”

The VP then suggested that doctors or staffers helped keep the truth from the American public.

“You can separate the desire for him to have the right health outcome, with the recognition that whether it was doctors, or whether there were staffers around the former president — I don’t think he was able to do a good job for the American people,” Vance said.

“And that’s not politics, that’s not because I disagreed with him on policy, that’s because I don’t think that he was in good enough health.”

“In some ways, I blame him less than I blame the people around him,” the VP said of Biden. 

“Why didn’t the American people have a better sense of his health picture? Why didn’t the American people have more accurate information about what he was actually dealing with?” Vance posed. 

“This is serious stuff. This is the guy who carries around the nuclear football for the world’s largest nuclear arsenal,” Vance continued. “This is not child’s play. We can pray for good health, but also recognize that if you’re not in good enough health to do the job, you shouldn’t do the job.” 

Biden’s cancer announcement comes on the heels of major buzz over the forthcoming book “Original Sin,” which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the physical and cognitive decline of Biden while in the White House.

For example, the book details how some staffers thought Biden might need a wheelchair, and how the former president was sometimes unable to recognize friends and staffers. Meanwhile, the White House routinely stated how sharp Biden was and suggested anyone who criticized him was engaging in misinformation.

WATCH:

JD Vance takes shots at Biden and the “people around him.”

“This is not child’s play. We can pray for good health, but also recognize that if you’re not in good enough health to do the job, you shouldn’t be doing the job.” pic.twitter.com/QW1Jsui9iq

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) May 19, 2025

Related: Doctors Raise Questions About Timing Of Biden Cancer Diagnosis: ‘Unbelievable This Was Missed’