When former President Biden went public with his cancer diagnosis, everyone credited President Trump for not immediately logging onto Truth Social and posting a bonkers reaction. This time, he waited for a press conference so he could shift the attention to himself in person.
When asked if he planned to call President Biden after the news of his aggressive prostate cancer diagnosis, Trump instead used the moment to inform the invited White House press that he had just ‘aced’ his cognitive test — and was, in his words, very proud of himself.
Trump on Biden's cancer diagnosis: "I'm surprised that the public wasn't notified a long time ago, because to get to stage 9, that's a long time … I did a very complete physical, including cognitive tests. I'm proud to announced I aced it." pic.twitter.com/6mk3bGszAm
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 19, 2025
This came just a day after all major news networks were (somehow) praising Trump for his measured response to the announcement, where he had simply said he wished Biden well. Jon Stewart rightfully mocked the ongoing trend of having the lowest bar in American history for a president, joking that people were basically congratulating Trump for not taking cancer’s side.
Obviously, that poise had an expiration date.
In his first full public appearance, Trump pivoted from “get well soon” to suggesting Biden’s diagnosis announcement didn’t come soon enough for his liking. Then he bafflingly claimed Biden had “stage 9 cancer.” Which — just to be clear — isn’t a thing. At all. It’s difficult to even figure out what Trump was trying to accomplish with that statement, especially because Biden had already stepped down from his re-election campaign. If anything, Trump stands to gain far more politically by showing even the tiniest shred of human decency. But that’s never really been his vibe.
X (formerly Twitter) was not amused. Users were quick to slam the remarks as self-centered. One called his view of the, “The usual narcissistic ‘Me! Me! Me!’” Another noted the irony of Trump bragging about acing his cognitive test while simultaneously inventing a non-existent ninth stage of cancer.
The usual narcissistic “Me! Me! Me!” in response to any question.
— Natalka (@NatalkaKyiv) May 19, 2025
That’s interesting— I’ve never heard of Stage 9 cancers. None.
— SpeakUpUSA(@co68388919) May 19, 2025
Once again, he proves how incredibly inept he is with his ‘stage 9’ comment. And once again he makes President Biden’s diagnosis all about himself.
— Jacob R. Adkins (@JacobRAdkins3) May 19, 2025
This isn’t new behavior from President Trump. When he’s not pushing bills that threaten to increase the deficit and strip people of Medicaid, he’s usually just muddying the political waters with sound bites that make headlines for all the wrong reasons. But there’s a lesson buried somewhere in all this: it’s a cautionary tale for moderates who seem desperate to praise Trump for even the barest hints of decency. The same people who were applauding his “gracious” statement yesterday are now nursing secondhand embarrassment.
According to NPR, the actual rating scale for prostate cancer is called the Gleason score, which runs from 1 to 10. Biden’s case is reportedly a 9, meaning it’s extremely high-risk. Which is probably where the “stage 9” came from in Trump’s speech. In contrast to the circus on the White House other world leaders have issued heartfelt support for President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, and while cancer doesn’t erase Biden’s legacy — the couple still deserve the dignity to fight the disease in peace.
Cancer affects all of us in different ways, and it remains one of the final frontiers in medicine — something humanity still hasn’t fully figured out how to conquer. So yes, we too send our well wishes to the Biden family… even if some others need reminding that empathy isn’t a competition.
