A top oncologist weighed in on former President Joe Biden’s shocking cancer diagnosis and left MSNBC hosts stunned with his conclusions.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel told “Morning Joe” that despite the recent surprising public announcement, the former president likely already had the cancer when he took office in 2021. Emanuel, who was selected by the then-president to serve on his COVID Advisory Board, questioned how the prostate cancer had been missed or swept under the rug.
On the heels of Biden’s shocking diagnosis, beloved comic strip creator Scott Adams also revealed that he has the same aggressive form of prostate cancer and has only months to live. He shared on a Rumble stream on Monday that he “expects to be checking out sometime this summer” and that he remained quiet about his illness, which he had had longer than the former president.
“Well, longer than he’s admitted to having it,” the Dilbert creator added, in a reference to the debate over the timeline of Biden’s condition.
Scott Adams says he has the same cancer that Joe Biden has, says he expects to be “checking out” this summer.
Devastating. We are all praying for you @ScottAdamsSays!pic.twitter.com/LP3MJbZpoZ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 19, 2025
“You would say that very few people have actually had it diagnosed at this late stage. That’s rare. Doesn’t it take some time for prostate cancer to develop to a point where it would spread to the bone?” MSNBC host Joe Scarborough asked Dr. Emanuel.
“Oh, he’s had this for many years, maybe even a decade, growing there and spreading. That’s right. It’s a little surprising. I looked back at the records and there’s no evidence that when he got his health status and the medical records were released, that he had a prostate-specific antigen,” said Emanuel, who is currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES! Dr. Zeke Emanuel just went on MSNBC and told Morning Joe that Biden DEFINITELY had cancer during his presidency – IN 2021!
In other words – IT WAS HIDDEN. Scarborough is SHOCKED.
JOE: “This is NOT speculation [right?] He had it when he was president?”
EMANUEL:… pic.twitter.com/wqCZjslNlU
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 19, 2025
“Now, it is true that a lot of people recommend not doing a prostate-specific antigen after 70, but President Biden’s been in public life a very long time,” he added. “He was vice president and had a lot of exams under 70. So it’s a little surprising that they didn’t do it. And maybe President Biden decided he didn’t want the test. Many men do decide they don’t want the PSA, but this is also aggressive.”
“When we talk about aggressive part, what we mean is that Gleason score, that score is from two up to ten. And he’s a nine. And that means that the cancer doesn’t look normal, it looks very abnormal, which is probably why it’s in the bone. And as you point out, Joe, it’s been around for a very long time in President Biden – years,” he noted, stunning the “Morning Joe” panel.
“Exactly how many?” Scarborough asked.
While the doctor said he did not know the answer, he noted that it “is a little surprising to many of us oncologists that he wasn’t diagnosed earlier.”
“I don’t know what President Biden and his doctor discussed, but I think you are hinting at the other element, which is that President Obama had this test, President Bush had this test,” Emanuel continued. “It is a little surprising that the doctor didn’t take it. And if he took it and didn’t report it and it was elevated, that is another case of doctors not being straightforward with us. We’ve had several of them with President Trump, especially around his COVID diagnosis. And if that is true, that would be very troubling.”
“If he has had prostate cancer that has spread to the bone, then he most certainly had it when he was president of the United States?” Scarborough asked.
“Oh yeah. He did not develop it in the last 100 to 200 days. He had it while he was president. He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021. Yes, I don’t think there’s any disagreement about that,” the oncologist asserted.
