Joe Biden's 'I have cancer' remark sparks health speculation, White House clarifies

During a public speech at a coal-fired facility in Somerset, Massachusetts, Biden was presenting a series of executive actions to combat climate change when he recalled a childhood incident about the hazards of being exposed to pollutants from oil refineries.

A video suggesting that US President Joe Biden has cancer sparked debate on social media. During a public speech at a coal-fired facility in Somerset, Massachusetts, Biden was presenting a series of executive actions to combat climate change when he recalled a childhood incident about the hazards of being exposed to pollutants from oil refineries.

Biden stated, when discussing the impact of oil refineries on health near his native town of Claymont, Delaware, "My mother drove us instead of us walking, and guess what? What was going on with the first frost? To remove the oil slick off the window, you had to use your windshield wipers. That's why I - and so many other people I grew up with - have cancer, and why Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the country for a long time."

Many conservative sources posted a portion of the speech, implying that Biden just stated his health condition. However, what appears to be a casual comment regarding the president's physical condition may just be the latest in a long line of gaffes - one of the many plausible scenarios that were circulating on Twitter.

The White House has responded to Joe Biden's cancer statements, which sparked outrage on social media. The White House has explained that Biden was referring to a skin cancer treatment he received before taking office.

When asked for response by the media, White House spokeswoman Andrew Bates linked to a tweet from Washington Post writer Glenn Kessler, who stated that Biden had non-melanoma skin tumours removed before taking office.

It's not the first time President Joe Biden has misspoken during a speech, causing uproar with an insignificant subcontext that entirely sidetracked the argument he was attempting to convey - and was eventually cleaned up by the White House.