By: Sunil Kumar
July 22 2022
False: U.S. President Joe Biden announces he has cancer.
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
The White House clarified that President Biden did not announce he had cancer. He was referring to an old diagnosis for which he has been treated.
Claim ID 4812620b
Context:
Numerous posts on Facebook claim that U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he had cancer. The caption reads, "BREAKING: Biden claims to have CANCER!! Biden- I and so many other people I grew up with have cancer." Following Biden's speech, the hashtag #BidenHasCancer started trending on social media.
In Fact:
The post includes a video of Biden speaking at Brayton Point Power Station in Massachusetts on July 20, 2022. The president was discussing the effects of climate change and how his administration responded to those changes by building infrastructure for renewable and clean energy. He spoke specifically about how the state of Delaware was polluted in the past and how that had affected him and his community. The transcript of Biden's remarks on the White House website from the July 21 speech reads, "That's why I—and so damn many other people I grew up with—have cancer."
However, Biden was referring to a previous diagnosis. According to a clarification issued by White House's official spokesperson Andrew Bates, Biden was talking about non-Melanoma skin cancer, which Biden received treatment for before he entered office.
President Biden's health summary published by the White House on November 19, 2021, said he underwent "Mohs surgery to eradicate non-melanoma skin cancer before taking office. These lesions were entirely removed, leaving behind clean margins. Doctors did an entire body skin examination for dermatological monitoring. They used Liquid nitrogen cryotherapy to treat a few little patches of actinic change. However, at that moment, there were no spots that looked suspect of skin cancer."
A report in People magazine states that they have confirmed with the White House that the President was "not announcing that he has been diagnosed with cancer."
The Verdict:
The White House had clarified that the President was referring to a previous diagnosis before he was sworn in. Biden no longer has cancer. Therefore, we are marking this claim as false.
