A rare public accounting of Joe Biden’s health has emerged from inside his own family, as Hunter Biden described a cancer diagnosis that has advanced well beyond its original site.
The former president has largely stayed out of public view since departing the White House in 2025. That absence took on new significance when his son addressed it directly during a BBC Newsnight interview.
BBC host Paddy O’Connell raised the subject after referencing earlier comments from Jill Biden. “Jill has given some public comments uh that he has prostate and bone cancer and will forever live with cancer,” O’Connell said, then asked how the family had absorbed the news.
Hunter Biden did not offer an elaborate answer at first. “It’s really tough, Paddy,” he said. “That’s the real answer.”
Cameras caught him needing a moment before he could continue, visibly emotional as he shifted from the diagnosis itself to what his father means to the family.
“My dad is, and to this day remains, the center of our family,” Biden said, adding that this holds true “not just because of who he is as the public person, but completely because of who he is to each one of us, down to his grandchildren and his great-grandchild.”
He described his father in almost reverent terms. “He is our rock. He has been there for each one of us in a way that is hard for me to even possibly articulate and explain,” Biden said.
The tribute continued at length. “Whatever you think about his politics or the decisions that he made, I can tell you this. He’s the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather of anyone that I’ve ever read about, heard about, or even seen in a movie,” he said.
From there, the tone turned darker as Biden described watching his father endure the illness day to day.
“So it’s really hard, Paddy, and it’s really sad to watch,” he said. “It’s really the only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more because it’s not good.”
He then confirmed the extent of the disease’s progression in blunt terms. “The cancer has spread. It’s metastasized into his bones and further,” Biden said.
Even so, Biden portrayed his father as unwilling to slow down. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects, but he’s still out there. He’s still doing this thing,” he said.
He tied that persistence to a broader conviction his father holds. “That is, he so believes in this country, and as long as he’s alive, I promise you he’s going to continue to fight,” Biden said.
O’Connell later characterized the family’s trajectory as one of “very soaring highs and very deep lows.” Hunter Biden did not push back on that framing.
The conversation eventually moved to a separate and politically charged subject: the pardon Joe Biden granted his son before leaving office.
O’Connell asked point-blank whether the former president had crossed a line as a father in granting it.
Hunter Biden did not dodge the question of privilege.
He called himself “as privileged” as anyone could be in that position, while maintaining he never discussed a potential pardon with his father in advance. He said he remained “eternally grateful” regardless.
Pushed to weigh the decision’s broader consequences, Biden offered a notably critical self-assessment.
“Was it good for our Constitution? Was it good for the American people? Was it good for my dad’s legacy? No. On all counts, it was not,” he said.
He went further, conceding the backlash was warranted. “It’s something that is easily criticized and for good reason,” Biden said.
He closed that portion of the interview without attempting to soften the admission. “And I can’t pretend otherwise,” he said.
Much of the remainder of the BBC interview centered on criticism of President Donald Trump, according to the broadcast.
News of Joe Biden‘s cancer diagnosis first became public earlier this year, and subsequent reporting has suggested the family may have been aware of health concerns before that disclosure.
Jill Biden has spoken publicly about her husband’s condition on occasion, but the former president himself has kept a low profile regarding his own health since leaving office.
Hunter Biden’s comments represent one of the more candid family accounts to date of how far the illness has progressed and how it has affected those closest to him.
