Donald Trump raised more than a few eyebrows after an awkward and confusing moment during a press conference, where he managed to mix up details about Joe Biden’s prostate cancer in a way that had people questioning his mental sharpness.
The 78-year-old president was speaking to reporters on May 19, just after presenting a Medal of Honor to the family of a fallen police officer, when he was asked about Biden’s recent prostate cancer diagnosis. At first, Trump seemed sympathetic, saying, “I think it’s very sad.” But things took a strange turn when he veered off into speculation about whether the public had been kept in the dark for too long, reported PEOPLE.
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“I’m surprised that it wasn’t notified a long time ago. Because to get to stage 9, it’s a long time,” he said, apparently confusing the staging of cancer with the Gleason score used to grade prostate cancer severity.
To clarify: Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, which was confirmed by his office the day before. The “stage 9” Trump mentioned doesn’t exist in cancer classification. The number he may have been referring to—Gleason score 9—is used in prostate cancer to indicate the aggressiveness of the cancer cells, not the stage.
According to Dr. Christopher Wee, a medical oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic, “The higher the number, the more abnormal the cells are.” He explained that a Gleason score of 9 or 10 signals a particularly aggressive cancer, but stage 4 is the actual classification, meaning the disease has spread beyond the prostate.
Trump’s slip-up didn’t go unnoticed online. Social media was flooded with users questioning whether the former president might be projecting his issues. “Trump immediately pivots to himself, babbling about his impressive cognitive ability, which he just proved he doesn’t have. This is basic dementia,” posted podcast host Jim Stewartson on X.
Others mocked the moment with biting sarcasm. “This is just another demonstration of the fact that while Stage 9 cancer is not a thing, Stage 5 Alzheimer’s certainly is!” one user quipped.
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Not missing a beat, Trump used the same press conference to boast about his own recent physical, making sure to highlight that he “aced” his cognitive test. “Are you proud of me? Your husband would be proud of me for getting them all right,” he joked, seemingly speaking to a reporter.
He even suggested cognitive testing should be a requirement for anyone running for president, though he admitted it might not be constitutional. That, of course, didn’t stop more online jabs, with one commenter writing, “Make common sense great again, please! GLEASON STAGE 9 he never said stage 9 cancer.”
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