Jill Biden Discusses Joe Biden's Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis on Kelly Ripa Podcast
She also discussed Hunter Biden's addiction and the East Wing demolition on Kelly Ripa's podcast.
Jill Biden addressed Joe Biden's stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis in a new episode of SiriusXM's LET'S TALK OFF CAMERA WITH Kelly Ripa, saying the cancer has spread to his bones and explaining that the diagnosis followed medical guidelines. She said neither she nor White House doctors anticipated the disease. The episode also touched on Hunter Biden's addiction, the demolition of the White House East Wing, and her outlook on the prospect of a woman being elected president.
Highlights
On the East Wing: Dr. Jill Biden says watching the White House East Wing be torn down after she transformed it into an interactive educational space felt 'heartbreaking,' comparing it to 'a rare and precious animal that was just gutted.'
On Hunter Biden's addiction: Dr. Jill Biden says the loss of Beau Biden likely worsened Hunter Biden's addiction and reflects on how her family came to understand addiction as a disease, praising Hunter's years-long recovery and advocacy.
On a female president: Dr. Jill Biden says she no longer believes she'll see a woman elected president in her lifetime, recalling that she was 'shocked' by Kamala Harris' 2024 election loss after expecting her to win.
Dr. Jill Biden on the East Wing
Dr. Jill Biden: I loved the East Wing. I think, when you went to the White House, that was where you would enter the White House. So I would see families come in, and they'd be so excited, and they'd be taking pictures. And then they'd walk down the hallway, and I put up pictures of art, of military kids.
Yes. And then we-
Kelly Ripa: You made it very interactive, right?
Dr. Jill Biden: That was my whole point. I'm a teacher for 40 years, and I thought, 'We can't have just these pictures on the wall.' People who come in need to hear FDR's address on the radio. They need to feel the marble. They need to see pictures of people they identify with, like the first ladies, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama, Laura Bush.
So when they come in, they say, 'Oh, I know her. I recognize her.' So I made it all interactive. And so when it was being torn down, people were sending me photos. Yeah. And I think you probably read in the book my description.
And it felt like a rare and precious animal that was just gutted, with its guts hanging out, and it was heartbreaking
Dr. Jill Biden on Hunter Biden's addiction
Kelly Ripa: I'm wondering if the grief from watching his brother go through so much, do you think that exacerbated the addiction in some way?
Dr. Jill Biden: I for sure think it did exacerbate things. Addiction affects so many people, and it was really hard, I think, for me personally, to understand addiction, to understand it was an illness, because I kept feeling like 'My God, we gave him everything.
We gave him a good education. He couldn't be more loved.' 'He has a great family. We live in a great house. What more could we have given him?' And so you tend to look at yourself and think, 'What did I do wrong? How could I have done this better?' And once you're going through rehab after rehab and you're not getting answers, I think it's really hard.
But Hunter has overcome his addiction, if that's the right word. Thank God. You've probably heard him on podcasts now. He openly talks about addiction- ... which I think is helping other addicts see their way forward and helping families—
Kelly Ripa: Understand that it is a disease
Dr. Jill Biden: Yeah. Exactly. Because it's really hard to understand- ... when you're going through it. But now he's doing-- he's helping people in recovery. He's been in recovery, I think I forget, it's eight to 10 years now. He's remarried. He has a beautiful little boy who he named Beau, who's- six years old now.
He turned his life around, but it wasn't easy, and it was years and years.
Dr. Jill Biden on Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis
Dr. Jill Biden: He's doing okay. When we got out, he was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. And, for anyone who's listening, really, that diagnosis, you can be cured, and you can go through radiation or whatever. You can be cured, and you'll be fine. Unfortunately for Joe, it metastasized to his bones.
Which means that he will forever live with cancer, and we have to be mindful of it every three months, testing and medicines. And anybody who's gone through this cancer journey and I've been through it many times with members of my family, of course with Beau, it's constant.
It's daily. And I think it's challenging.
Kelly Ripa: A lot of people were dubious, thinking that it was a big cover-up, that everyone knew that, that you must have been covering for the President and known about this diagnosis. And we here at the podcast, my father, about six months before President Biden's diagnosis- was diagnosed with the exact same things.
Dr. Jill Biden: Ugh.
Full transcripts of the conversation, along with video clips, were made available in connection with the episode's release. LET'S TALK OFF CAMERA WITH Kelly Ripa airs Tuesdays on SiriusXM's Radio Andy channel and is available to stream on podcast platforms.
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