‘Debilitating’: Hunter Biden speaks out about father Joe Biden’s cancer

Hunter Biden, the younger son of former United States President Joe Biden, has offered an update on his father’s cancer diagnosis in a wide-ranging interview that also reflected on some of the more controversial moments of the Biden presidency.

In a Friday night appearance on the BBC show Newsnight, Hunter Biden told host Paddy O’Connell that his father’s condition was “debilitating”.

“It’s really hard, Paddy, and it’s really sad to watch,” the younger Biden said.

“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. The cancer has spread. It’s metastasized into his bones and further. It’s very painful.”

In May 2025, the former president revealed that, days earlier, during a physical exam, doctors had discovered he was suffering from an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had already spread to his bones.

The announcement came approximately 10 months after the elder Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. Biden, the incumbent in the election, had all but secured the Democratic Party’s nomination, sweeping the primaries, but concerns about his advanced age had been mounting.

A turning point came on June 27, 2024, when Biden faced Republican candidate Donald Trump for the first presidential debate of that year’s election season.

Though Trump and Biden are relatively close in age, Biden appeared comparably stiff on stage, walking to his podium with short, uneasy steps. He then appeared to lose his train of thought in the middle of answers.