Vice President JD Vance told reporters Monday that former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis shouldn't prevent people from questioning whether the Democrat was fit to serve as commander in chief.
"Whether the right time to have this conversation is now or at some point in the future, we really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job," Vance said aboard Air Force Two, according to The Hill.
The vice president, who was reportedly returning to the United States from Rome when he made his comments, said it's possible to express concern for Biden's health while also acknowledging the missteps of his presidency.
"You can separate the desire for him to have the right health outcome with a recognition that, whether it was doctors or whether there were staffers around the former president, I don't think he was able to do a good job for the American people," Vance said.
Biden, who followed eight years as former President Barack Obama's vice president with his own stint in the Oval Office, announced through a spokesman on Sunday that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer on Friday that has metastasized, or spread, to the bone.
The news about his cancer diagnosis came as more information about Biden's cognitive abilities emerged amid the release of new books on his time as president and the release of audio from special counsel Robert Hur's 2023 interview about his handling of classified documents.
Vance said he doubts the Biden White House ever revealed the full extent of the former president's health challenges to the public.
"Why didn't the American people have more accurate information about what he was actually dealing with? This is serious stuff," he told reporters. "This is the guy who carries around the nuclear football for the world's largest nuclear arsenal — this is not child's play. And we can pray for good health but also recognize that if you're not in good enough health to do the job, you shouldn't be doing the job."
Often one of the loudest voices questioning Biden's health, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he and first lady Melania Trump were "saddened" to hear about his predecessor's diagnosis.
"We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform Sunday.