Former President Joe Biden, 83, is living in severe pain as his prostate cancer has continued to spread to other parts of his body, his son Hunter Biden said in an interview with BBC published on Aug. 7.
“It’s really hard … and it’s really sad to watch,” Hunter Biden said.
In May 2025, about four months after his term ended, a representative for the former president announced Biden had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had already spread to his bones.
As he offered the latest health update, Hunter Biden told BBC that he wished his father would complain more.
“It’s very painful, and it’s very debilitating in many respects, but he’s still out there,” the younger Biden said.
In October, a family spokesperson said the former president had begun radiation and hormone treatments.
Cancer has impacted other members of the Biden family.
Former First Lady Jill Biden had a basal cell carcinoma surgically removed from above her right eye, and a second basal cell carcinoma removed from the left side of her chest in early 2023.
Joe Biden’s other son, Beau Biden, died in 2015 following a battle with brain cancer. The former president has routinely linked his son’s brain tumor to exposure to toxic burn pits during military deployments over the years.
Hunter Says Father’s Pardon Hurt Legacy
At the time of the pardon, in December 2024, Hunter Biden had been convicted of felony charges for possessing a firearm while being an active user of illegal narcotics. He was facing further criminal prosecution for tax evasion.
Joe Biden’s “full and unconditional pardon” identified the gun and tax cases, as well as any other criminal offenses his son “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024.” Joe Biden granted this pardon despite previously pledging not to intervene on his son’s behalf.
Hunter Biden told BBC he was privileged to have his father be in a position to pardon him. Still, he acknowledged the decision warrants criticism.
“Was it good for our Constitution? Was it good for the American people? Was it good for my dad’s legacy? No, on all counts, it was not.” Hunter Biden said. “It’s something that is easily criticized, and for good reason. And I can’t pretend otherwise.”
Hunter Biden said that if he were in federal probation or a federal prison after his father left office, then President Donald Trump “would’ve had a hold on my family that would make it not just unbearable, but incredibly unjust and unfair.”
“And that’s the decision that my dad made.”
