Joe and Jill Biden are likely stung by the backlash that’s come their way after the former president’s revelation over the weekend that he is battling prostate cancer — including calls for the former first lady to be slapped with “elder abuse” charges, a onetime aide has claimed.
Johanna Maska, who worked with Biden when he was Barack Obama’s vice president, told the Daily Mail that the criticism and suggestions of a cover-up would be cutting deep.
“I know they are sensitive to it,” said Maska, who served as director of press advance under the Obama administration.
“And Joe will be following it all – I don’t think there’s ever been a moment when he didn’t watch the news. He’s a product of DC. He cares very much about what’s going on.
“This is not the graceful exit they dreamed of,” she added.
Speculation has been rife that the Biden administration buried the 46th president’s health woes after leading medical experts questioned how doctors could have missed his “aggressive” cancer until now.
A senior Department of Justice official even went so far as musing about whether Jill should face criminal charges for not revealing what she knew about her husband’s health problems — including his obvious cognitive decline while in office.
“Elder Abuse! Criminal Charges??” Leo Terrell, a senior counselor within the DOJ’s civil rights office, posted on X.
“She knew about President Biden’s health problems. But still wanted him to run for President. Evil.”
Oncologist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, part of Biden’s transition team following his 2020 election victory over President Donald Trump, was among those to question the timing of his diagnosis, suggesting that the oldest-ever president very likely had the disease when he was still in the White House.
“He’s had this for many years, maybe even a decade, growing there and spreading,” he told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” after news of Biden’s illness broke.
“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,” he added.
Still, former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, a longtime friend of the Bidens, repeatedly gave him a clean bill of health.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Biden’s office revealed that the former president is last known to have undergone prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening — the most common test used to detect prostate cancer — in 2014.
A Biden spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
