Former first lady Jill Biden admitted that she worried her husband Joe Biden was “having a stroke” during his ill-fated 2024 presidential debate with Donald Trump.
“I was frightened,” Jill, 74, told CBS News’ Rita Braver in a preview clip of a CBS Sunday Morning interview airing on Sunday, May 31. “I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since.”
Joe’s notoriously sluggish debate performance on June 27, 2024, essentially signaled the end of his re-election bid against Trump, 79. In the wake of his poor debate performance, George Clooney, the late Rob Reiner and author Stephen King were among those to call for Joe, 83, to end his re-election campaign.
Looking back on the debate, Jill recalled that her primary concern was whether her husband was suffering a medical emergency in front of the world.
“I don’t know what happened,” she conceded. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh my god, he’s having a stroke.’ It scared me to death.”
Pressure mounted on Joe to call off his candidacy for several weeks after the June 2024 debate. More than 30 Congressional Democrats publicly called for Joe to step aside, though he initially refused to acquiesce to the backlash.
“I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to,” Joe told supporters at a North Carolina rally in June 2024. “I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job, I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
However, Joe eventually withdrew from the race on July 21, 2024, and officially endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Trump in the November election.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump participate in a CNN Presidential Debate. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
“My Fellow Americans, over the past three-and-a-half years, we have made great progress as a nation,” he announced via X. “Today, America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments in rebuilding our nation, in lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and in expanding affordable health care to a record number of Americans.”
Joe insisted that “America has never been better positioned to lead than we are today,” crediting his administration with overcoming “a once in a century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” he concluded. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Harris, 61, ultimately lost the presidential election to Trump in November 2024. A spokesperson for Joe announced he’d been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer with “metastasis to the bone” in May 2025.
Former President Joe Biden has begun his battle with what his office called an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer. “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” a statement sent from Biden’s personal office to CNN in May 2025, read. “On Friday, he […]
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” a statement to CNN read. “On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone. While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management.”
The former president broke his silence on May 19, 2025, to thank his supporters for their well-wishes.
“Cancer touches us all,” he captioned an Instagram post on Monday, May 19. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”
