Joe Biden has warned that his cancer battle will force him to scale back promotion of his forthcoming memoir.
The 83-year-old former president, who revealed in May that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, shared the update on X on Friday. His memoir, “Promise Me, America,” is scheduled for release on November 17.
“I want to share a brief update,” Biden began his statement on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “While writing the book, I was diagnosed with cancer, a disease known all too well to millions of Americans and their families.”
“My doctors continue to be encouraged by how I’ve responded to treatment,” he continued. “And the prayers and kind words and well wishes from so many of you have meant more to me and Jill and our family than you can ever know.”
The former president then addressed the practical consequences of his condition. “Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down,” he wrote. “What that means is, unfortunately, I won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped. However, I’m hopeful the words on the page speak for themselves.”
Biden struck a defiant tone as he closed his statement, invoking advice from his father. “Looking forward, I’m going to keep following what my father told me a long time ago: ‘Champ, when you get knocked down, get up.’ It’s a good lesson for me. And for America.”
The health update follows a candid interview given by Biden’s son Hunter to the BBC on August 7, in which the younger Biden disclosed the severity of his father’s condition. “The cancer has spread, metastasised into his bones and further,” Hunter, 56, said. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.”
Hunter described watching his father’s decline with anguish. “The only thing that I’d say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it’s not good,” he added. He also told the British broadcaster that the situation was “sad to watch.”
Biden’s diagnosis first became public in May 2025, when doctors identified a prostate nodule after he experienced increasing urinary symptoms. The cancer has since progressed to stage 4, with metastasis to his bones.
The memoir release comes shortly after former first lady Jill Biden published her own book, “View from the East Wing: A Memoir,” in June. In that volume, she wrote openly about her husband’s health struggles, including her reaction to his June 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump. During that event, she recalled thinking her husband was “having a stroke.”
Despite the scaled-back promotional schedule, Biden’s memoir is expected to cover his years in the White House and the challenges he faced during his single term in office.