Former President Joe Biden went to a hospital on Friday after a recent medical examination.
Biden, 82, was examined at a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hospital on Friday, according to The New York Times.
“In a routine physical exam a small nodule was found in the prostate, which necessitated further evaluation,” a representative of the former president said, according to ABC.
ABC reported that the discovery of the nodule is not in and of itself cause for alarm, noting that the possibility exists that it could be “a benign lump caused by inflammation or something more serious.”
In an interview last week on “The View,” Biden rejected claims that his mental and physical health declined during his final year in the White House, the Times noted.
“They are wrong,” Biden said. “There’s nothing to sustain that.”
However, according to a new book, Biden aides were preparing for the eventuality that if Biden had been re-elected last year, he would need to be in a wheelchair for part of his second term, according to Axios. Biden eventually dropped out of the race.
The book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” by Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson said Biden aides were worried about Biden’s spinal degeneration.
The book said aides were at great pains to keep Biden’s deteriorating condition from the public.
“Biden’s physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election,” the book said.
The book said that falls Biden took as president spurred talk of a wheelchair even before a second term.
“Given Biden’s age, [his physician Kevin O’Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” the book said.
Axios reported that a statement from a Biden representative said, “We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president.”
However, as Biden returns to the public eye, some Democrats say he is hurting the party.
“It’s time for Joe Biden to go away with all due respect and let the next generation of Democrats take the mantle,” Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha said, according to Politico.
“Every time he appears on a show or says something, it’s just another week or a month that we have to defend him and remind everybody that we got beat by Donald Trump, again.”
“For those of us trying to rebuild the brand, it does no good when you’re constantly reminded about the old brand that won’t go away,” Rocha said.
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