Elon Musk shows support to right-wing conspiracy theory about Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis

On Sunday, May 18, former President Joe Biden and his family announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Though doctors are hopeful that Biden’s cancer can be managed through hormone therapy, the fact that the cancer has moved out of the prostate and begun to metastasize in his bones will make treatment more complicated.

Within hours of the diagnosis being made public, conspiracy theories have begun to circulate and have been promoted by some of the world’s most powerful people.

Musk endorses a theory about attempts to conceal Biden’s diagnosis

Billionaire Elon Musk replied to a post on X that alluded to a plan within the Democratic party to get President Biden re-elected, even with cancer and dementia, only to resign and pass the torch to Kamala Harris.

“So the plan was to run Biden, lie about his cancer and dementia, get him back in the WH and then have him immediately step aside so Kamala’s reign of terror could begin,” wrote Clint Russell, a right-wing content creator.

This post was reposted by Mark Kern, a former video game executive, who uses the handle Grummz on X, who added that a Kamala Harris presidency would have amounted to a “total wipeout in the US.”

“X would be gone, mass censorship the norm, and total woke takeover in gaming and movies. And quite possibly WW3. Count your blessings.”

To these two posts, Elon Musk, the owner of X, replied with a bullseye, affirming his agreement with the theory put forward.

Interestingly, many of these theories miss a major criticism among Democratic voters, who were increasingly concerned about Biden’s health throughout his presidency. Biden’s power within the Democratic party was so strong that he was allowed to run for another term, when many voters did not want him to, because the party leaders were unwilling or unable to stop him. The fact that he may have been able to conceal the state of his health from those officials, or that they protected him from public scrunity, could decrease trust among the Democratic voting base, who was interested in Biden serving as a bridge candidate to another leader, be it his vice president, or another figure within the party.

Is Joe Biden Suffering from Dementia?

There is no confirmed diagnosis of dementia for former President Joe Biden. Neither his family nor his medical team has publicly stated that he suffers from any form of cognitive disease. However, concerns about his mental acuity have intensified following the release of Original Sin, a book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. The book alleges that Biden’s aides and advisers deliberately concealed signs of his physical and mental decline during the 2024 election campaign. However, the then-president’s condition could not be contained after Biden’s disastrous debate with Donald Trump in late June, ultimately leading him to bow out of the race.

While memory issues can be a normal part of aging and do not necessarily indicate dementia, the book paints a troubling picture of a president whose cognitive and physical health was deteriorating, with aides even discussing the possibility of needing a wheelchair for him.

Could Biden have known he had cancer while in the White House?

The theory supported by Musk also implies that Biden knew about his diagnosis before leaving office. Some commentators, lacking medical credentials, claim it would have been impossible for Biden not to have known about the cancer while still in office.

Medical experts, however, offer a more complex view. Prostate cancer can be slow-growing and asymptomatic for years if it remains confined to the prostate. Once it spreads, such as to the bones, as in Biden’s case, it becomes more aggressive and symptomatic.

However, for many medical professionals, the fact that the team of doctors overseeing the healthcare of the Presidnet of the United States missed signs of cancer is hard to believe.

Dr. Howard Forman posted on X that it is “inconceivable that this was not being followed before he left the presidency,” citing the Gleason grade 9 diagnosis, which typically correlates with elevated prostate-specific antigen that would have been detectable through routine bloodwork.

This raises a critical ethical question: If Biden knew about his cancer diagnosis before leaving office, did he have a duty to inform the public? Especially given that he was handing over the presidency to Donald Trump, transparency about his health could have had significant political implications regarding the trust of voters in the Democratic party.

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