Biden jokes with reporter about his mental, physical fitness, says he 'can beat the hell out of both of them'

Speaking with the press after his first public remarks following his cancer diagnosis, Biden claimed that he can "beat the hell out of both of them," and appeared to joke that he’s "mentally incompetent” and “can’t walk."

A CNN reporter told Biden, "There’s also been a lot of discussion recently about your mental and physical capabilities while you were in office." Scrutiny has again been placed on Biden’s ability to serve as president during time in office, both after his prostate cancer diagnosis and the release of the book, “Original Sin.”

Biden cut in, appearing to joke, "You can see that I’m mentally incompetent, and I can’t walk, and I can beat the hell out of both of them!"

"Well, do you want to reply to any of those reports, and also to the fact that there are some Democrats who are now questioning whether you should’ve run for reelection in the first place?” the reporter asked.

"Why didn’t they run against me then," Biden replied. He added after a laugh, "Because I would have beaten them." He said he had no regrets about anything.

Per the New York Post, Biden also said that his cancer treatment was "all a matter of taking a pill, one particular pill, and for the next six weeks, and then another one, the expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this." He added, "It’s not in any organ, my bones are strong … so I’m feeling good."

In early May, Biden was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer, and doctors questioned how the cancer was caught so late for someone of his status. “It is inconceivable that this was not being followed before he left the Presidency,” wrote Dr. Howard Forman. Dr. Steven Quay wrote, "It is highly likely he was carrying a diagnosis of prostate cancer throughout his White House tenure and the American people were uninformed."

His cancer diagnosis came just days before the release of Original Sin, a book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, which revealed, among other things, that Biden's aides had expressed concerns over him being placed in a wheelchair due to "physical deterioration."

The diagnosis also came just days after the audio of the interview between Biden and special counsel Robert Hur was released, which was conducted in October 2023 over Biden allegedly mishandling classified documents. The audio revealed that Biden had difficulty answering questions and had poor memory recall.