Political strategist David Axelrod on Sunday said discussions about President Biden’s mental acuity and whether he should have exited last year’s presidential race sooner should be “set aside” as the former president deals with a prostate cancer diagnosis.
“I think those kinds of discussions are going to happen, but they should be more muted and set aside for now as he’s sort of struggling through this,” Axelrod said on CNN not long after the news about Biden circulated.
Biden, 82, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, his office announced Sunday. The diagnosis comes after a regular medical exam found a “small nodule” on his prostate earlier this month. The finding “necessitated further evaluation,” a spokesperson said.
The news dropped as the former president has come under more and more criticism for the Democrats’ loss to President Trump in November’s presidential election.
Biden dropped out of the race in July, paving the way for former Vice President Kamala Harris to run as the Democratic nominee.
But a number of Democrats in recent weeks have argued that Biden should never have run for a second term, and that he bears responsibility for their party’s loss by not removing himself from the race earlier.
The arguments have been augmented by a series of books that have offered new insights into Biden’s health last year.
Axelrod, who served as an adviser to former President Obama, was among the Democrats who pushed for Biden to exit the presidential race after a rocky debate performance in June against Trump.
“There are certain immutable facts of life, and those were painfully obvious on that debate stage, and the president just doesn’t seem to come to — he hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race,” Axelrod told CNN in early July of last year.
After Biden’s loss, Axelrod said it was “bulls‑‑‑” to say Biden would have won the race if he had stayed in it.
“I read a quote from an unnamed Biden aide saying, you know, the Obama people ran Biden out in 2016 and he would have beaten Trump, and they ran him out again this time,” Axelrod said at the time. “And he would have beaten Trump again. Bulls‑‑‑.”
Axelrod on Sunday expressed sadness and surprise at the news of Biden’s prostate cancer.
“It shouldn’t be stunning because prostate cancer is so common among men, at his stage in life, most men if they live long enough deal with prostate cancer,” he said.
“It’s great news that they think it’s manageable, but jarring nonetheless,” Axelrod added.
Updated at 12:55 p.m. EDT
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
