MEDIAite (“‘He’s Had This For Many Years’: Doctor Shocks Joe Scarborough With Biden Cancer Analysis“):
Morning Joe hosts were left stunned as a cancer doctor suggested Joe Biden’s advanced prostate cancer should have been caught earlier and floated the possibility that the former president either skipped the test or the White House failed to report the results.
Biden was diagnosed with what his office called an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer on Friday in an announcement that went public on Sunday and explained how he was looking at “management” options.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist who was selected by Biden as a medical expert for his COVID Advisory Board, appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Monday, where his explanation left the hosts quietly listening in shock as he explained his “surprise” that the diagnosis was missed before now.
The doctor explained that the late-stage nature of the diagnosis means that Biden has had the cancer for “many years.”
Host Joe Scarborough asked: “You would say that very few people have actually had it diagnosed at this late stage. That’s rare. Doesn’t it take some time for prostate cancer to develop to a point where it would spread to the bone?”
“Oh, he’s had this for many years, maybe even a decade, growing there and spreading. That’s right. It’s a little surprising. I looked back at the records and there’s no evidence that when he got his health status and the medical records were released, that he had a prostate specific antigen,” the doctor explained.
Continuing the doctor said: “Now, it is true that a lot of people recommend not doing a prostate-specific antigen after 70, but President Biden’s been in public life a very long time. He was vice president and had a lot of exams under 70. So it’s a little surprising that they didn’t do it. And maybe President Biden decided he didn’t want the test. Many men do decide they don’t want the PSA, but this is also aggressive.”
He added: “When we talk about aggressive part, what we mean is that Gleason score, that score is from two up to ten. And he’s a nine. And that means that the cancer doesn’t look normal, it looks very abnormal, which is probably why it’s in the bone. And as you point out, Joe, it’s been around for a very long time in President Biden – years.”
Shocked, Scarborough pressed: “Exactly how many?”
Emanuel replied: “We don’t know, obviously. And it is a little surprising to many of us oncologists that he wasn’t diagnosed earlier.”
The host pushed further, asking whether taking the test would be seen as “normal” and routine considering his public role.
The doctor replied, explaining that medical ethics required that the option and recommendation of a test would have been discussed with Biden but that the decision to have it would have ultimately rested with him.
He added: “I don’t know what President Biden and his doctor discussed, but I think you are hinting at the other element, which is that President Obama had this test, President Bush had this test. It is a little surprising that the doctor didn’t take it. And if he took it and didn’t report it and it was elevated, that is another case of doctors not being straightforward with us. We’ve had several of them with President Trump, especially around his COVID diagnosis. And if that is true, that would be very troubling.”
Scarborough stopped the doctor to outright ask him to confirm that Biden had had the cancer for years was not “speculation.”
“If he has had prostate cancer that has spread to the bone then he most certainly had it when he was president of the United States?” the host asked.
The doctor was clear in his reply: “Oh yeah. He did not develop it in the last 100 to 200 days. He had it while he was president. He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021. Yes, I don’t think there’s any disagreement about that.”
Emanuel is a colorful guy, with some unconventional and controversial views, but he’s a nationally renowned oncologist and bioethicist. And, one presumes given both his family ties and history of appointments, a Democrat. I’d be shocked if he’s not an honest broker on this one.
This comports with some of the discussion we had here after the news broke. It may well be that Biden simply didn’t want to get tested; the exam methodology is not exactly popular. More likely, given his advanced age, he didn’t want the information to be used against him by the opposition party—as they surely would have. But this certainly seems the kind of thing the public is entitled to know when voting for the President.
