(Fox News) A clip of President Biden on Wednesday appearing to claim in a speech that he has cancer sparked alarm on Twitter.
Biden was visiting a former coal power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts, to discuss new executive orders to fight climate change.
While discussing the harm caused by emissions from oil refineries, Biden referenced his childhood home in Delaware and said that he and many other people he grew up with now “have” cancer.”
My mother drove us rather than us being able to walk and guess what? The first frost, you know what was happening? You had to put on your windshield wipers to get literally the oil slick off the window. That’s why I and so damn many other people I grew up with have cancer and why for the longest time, Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation,” Biden said.
Various Twitter users immediately jumped on the clip wondering whether the comment was another gaffe or a bombshell admission.
“Cancer? This is either the biggest bombshell in presidential history or the biggest gaffe,” RealClearPolitics founder Tom Bevan tweeted.
Cancer? This is either the biggest bombshell in presidential history or the biggest gaffe. https://t.co/oFu1hH2gzK
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) July 20, 2022
Independent Women’s Forum senior fellow Beverly Hallberg wrote, “Pro Tip: Don’t say you have cancer when you don’t.”
Conservative writer Chad Felix Greene tweeted, “From the people who hyperventilated over demanding Trump told people to inject themselves with bleach, they sure are trying hard to avoid, ‘I and so many people my age have cancer because of windshield wipers cleaning oil off my car.'”
Washington Times columnist Tim Young joked, “Maybe Joe Biden meant to say that he, himself is a cancer to America.”
“If Biden DOESN’T/DIDN’T have cancer, this isn’t ‘misspeaking’ or a speech impediment. It’s just the latest in a long line of fabulist talking points everyone has let him off the hook for over the years,” political consultant Ellen Carmichael wrote.
If Biden DOESN’T/DIDN’T have cancer, this isn’t “misspeaking” or a speech impediment. It’s just the latest in a long line of fabulist talking points everyone has let him off the hook for over the years.
— Ellen Carmichael 🌻 (@ellencarmichael) July 20, 2022
Although many users were surprised by the statement, some journalists, including The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler and Politico’s Sam Stein, claimed that Biden was referring to his past skin cancer removal.
“How dumb is this tweet? Check out Biden’s medical report. Before he became president, he’d had non-melanoma skin cancers removed. Has no one at @RNCResearch ever had this common procedure?” Kessler tweeted.
How dumb is this tweet? Check out Biden’s medical report. Before he became president, he’d had non-melanoma skin cancers removed. Has no one at @RNCResearch ever had this common procedure? https://t.co/TS9VWtKcYC https://t.co/itklkVZIor
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) July 20, 2022
