Former President Joe Biden gives first public remarks since cancer diagnosis at event in Delaware
NEW CASTLE, Del. -- Former President Joe Biden delivered remarks at a Memorial Day service on Friday in New Castle, Delaware.
The appearance came two weeks after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
"The expectation is we're going to be able to beat this. It's not in any organ, my bones are strong. Haven't penetrated so I'm feeling good," he said after Friday's event.
Biden said he has started treatment.
"It's all a matter of taking a pill, one particular pill, for the next six weeks and then another one," he said.
The annual Memorial Day event at Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle also coincides with the ten-year anniversary of his son Beau Biden's passing from brain cancer.
He said Memorial Day is "deeply personal" for the Biden family.
"One of the proudest things I ever did was pinning his bars on him. It means so much to our family that the headquarters of the Delaware National Guard has been renamed after Beau," Biden said.
He told attendees as well that "being with all of you, quite frankly, it makes things a little bit easier. It really does. So thank you for allowing me to grieve with you."
Biden said that the United States' politics have "become so divided and so bitter", but that he sees the troops as representing a unified country.
"Our troops don't wear a uniform that says 'I'm a Democrat' or 'I'm a Republican' - it says 'I'm an American, I'm an American, that's who I am.'"
The former president spoke forcefully about providing services to veterans, saying that those who served and have passed deserve that honor.
"So today, let's renew our pledge to honor our heroes. I mean, sincerely renew our pledge to honor our heroes. I get really angry when I hear about, [claims that] veterans are seeking too much. They're not enough!" Biden said, adding that is why he wrote legislation relating to Gold Star families and others.
Biden's remarks came amidst the ongoing fallout over revelations in the book "Original Sin", written by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson and released last week, which alleges Biden had physical and mental impairments that were covered up by people in his inner circle. The book also alleged that Biden hid information about his son Beau Biden's cancer diagnosis.
Spokespeople for Biden have said nothing in "Original Sin" shows that Biden did not do his job or that there was any cover up; Joe and Jill Biden also pushed back on a slate of books making claims about Joe Biden in an appearance on ABC's "The View" earlier this month, with the former president saying, "They are wrong. There's nothing to sustain that."
Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, Rep. Sarah McBride, Lieutenant Governor Kyle Evans Gay, and former Sen. Tom Carper also spoke at the event Friday.
