Biden says ‘I feel good’ and ‘optimistic’ in the first public comments on cancer treatment

Former President Joe Biden, after delivering the first public comments since his office announced earlier this month that he had been diagnosed with “aggressive prostate cancer,” he told reporters that he felt “optimistic” about his prognosis.

“Well, the forecast is good. You know, we are working on everything. You are moving. So, I feel good,” Biden said.

He said he had decided a treatment option, mentioning that he would take several medications.

“The expectation is that we will be able to overcome this … it is not in any organ. My bones are strong. It has not penetrated, so I feel good,” he added, then saying that his family is also optimistic about the diagnosis and said “one of the world’s main surgeons” is working with him.

The announcement of the Biden office said there was “metastasis to the bone.”

When asked about the recent controversy about his mental and physical abilities while he was in office, Biden joked, with a smile: “You can see that, I am mentally incompetent and I cannot walk.”

And he asked about the Democrats who say that he should not have run again, Biden said: “Why didn’t they run against me then? Because I would have defeated them.” He added that he does not regret.

“Many things are happening. And I think we are in a really difficult time, not only in American history, in the history of the world. I think we are one of those inflection points in history where the decisions we make in the next little girl will determine how things look for things for the next 20 years,” he added, saying that he is proud of his record as president.

On Thursday, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told journalists that former First Lady Jill Biden should “talk about what he saw with respect to her husband and when he saw him and what he knew,” accusing her of lying.

When asked about Leavitt’s comments, Biden smiled and said: “I don’t know who the press secretary is,” but then he said he was joking and that the media would play directly.

In his previous formal comments in a day of the Fallen Day in his native state of Delaware, Biden said that American politics “has become so divided and so bitter”, but that he sees the military as united.

“My friends, the day of the fallen is something deep,” said Biden. “Our policy has become so divided and so bitter: every year I have been doing this, I never thought we would reach this point, but we are.

Biden also called his time as commander in chief the greatest honor of his life, and highlighted the tenth anniversary of the death of his son Beau, who served in the National Guard of the Delaware Army and died of brain cancer on May 30, 2015, when he was 46 years old.

“The greatest honor [of] My life has been, for four years, to be the commander in chief, [of the] The United States, “said Biden, adding a cheerful side that if he had come from another state in addition to Delaware, he does not believe that would have happened.

“I know that for many of you, the day of the fallen, as for us, is deeply personal,” Biden said solemnly later in his comments. “For the Bidens, this day is the tenth anniversary [of] The loss of my son Beau, [who] I spent a year in Iraq, and to be honest, it’s a difficult day. “

He spoke that Beau joined him in the services of Memorial Day, about Beau’s time in the National Guard of the Delaware Army and the deployment in Iraq, and the moment when Beau asked his father to fix the bars with his military uniform.

Beau’s legacy lives in his children and grandchildren, such as the legacies of loved ones that other attendees lost, Biden said. “And just like the legacy of all our fallen heroes is still alive, they live in us and live in the strength and freedom of our nation. That sounds like a hyperbole, but it is real. It is literal.”

“So, everyone who came here today to cry from heart pain, please know that they are not alone. They will never be alone and their loved ones will never be forgotten. Point,” Biden said.

He also told attendees that “being with all of you, frankly, does things a little easier. It really does. So thank you for allowing me to cry with you.”

After his comments, Biden seemed visibly emotional when other elected officials spoke at the event talked about Beau Biden, praising who he was and his military service.

Speaking more generally about the day of the fallen, Biden told the attendees: “A year, every year we join to remember, to remember, to remind the brave women and men who gave everything for this nation, or as Lincoln called it, the last complete measure of devotion,” said Biden.

He added: “They took their lives so that we could live our lives in peace, and perhaps the most important word with possibilities. And I know, I speak for everyone here and, when I say, we remember them every day, not only this day, but every day.”

The former president spoke strongly about providing services to veterans, saying that those who served and died deserve that honor.

“So today, we renew our promise to honor our heroes. I mean, sincerely renew our promise to honor our heroes … I am very angry when I hear about, [claims that] Veterans look too much. They are not enough! “Biden said, and added that he wrote legislation related to the families of Gold Star and others.

Biden’s comments were also the first after the launch of the book “Original without”, written by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, who claims that Biden had physical and mental disabilities while the president was covered by people in his internal circle.

Biden spokesmen have not said anything in the “original sin” shows that Biden did not do their job or that there was any cover -up. Biden. In an appearance in “The View” by ABC earlier this month, Biden backed off a list of books that makes statements about his mental sharpness, with the former president saying: “They are wrong. There is nothing to sustain that.”

Jon García de ABC News contributed to this report.